Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, December 2022

Jan 30, 2023 | All Categories, Climate Change in the American Mind, Reports

January 31, 2023

Climate Change in the American Mind is a joint program of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication


Report Summary

This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in the American Mind – conducted jointly by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. Interview dates: December 2 –12, 2022. Interviews: 1,085 adults (18+), 938 of whom are registered to vote. Average margin of error for registered voters: +/-3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Principal Investigators:

Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Edward Maibach, MPH, PhD
George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication

Seth Rosenthal, PhD
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

John Kotcher, PhD
George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication

 

For all media and other inquiries, please email:

George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication: Edward Maibach ([email protected]) and John Kotcher ([email protected])

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication: Lisa Fernandez ([email protected]), Jon Ozaksut ([email protected]), and Eric Fine ([email protected])


Reading Notes

  • This report includes only registered voters.
  • References to Republicans and Democrats throughout include respondents who initially identify as either a Republican or Democrat, as well as those who do not initially identify as a Republican or Democrat but who say they “are closer to” one of those parties (i.e., “leaners”) in a follow-up question. The category “Independents” does not include any of these “leaners.”
  • For tabulation purposes, percentage points are rounded to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given chart may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. Summed response categories (e.g., “strongly support” + “somewhat support”) are rounded after sums are calculated. For example, in some cases, the sum of 25% + 25% might be reported as 51% (e.g., 25.3% + 25.3% = 50.6%, which, after rounding, is 51%).
  • Weighted percentages among registered voters of each of the groups discussed in this report:
    • Democrats (total) including leaners: 48%
      • Liberal Democrats: 27%
      • Moderate/Conservative Democrats: 21%
        • (Moderate Democrats: 19%; Conservative Democrats: 3%)
    • Republicans (total) including leaners: 39%
      • Liberal/Moderate Republicans: 12%
        • (Liberal Republicans: 1%; Moderate Republicans: 12%)
      • Conservative Republicans: 27%
    • Independents excluding leaners: 8% (included the in results reported for “All Registered Voters” only)
    • No party/Not interested in politics/No response: 4% (included in the results reported for “All Registered Voters” only)
  • The full text of all survey items can be found in the data tables.

Citation

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Rosenthal, S., Kotcher, J., Carman, J., Lee, S., Verner, M., Ballew, M., Ansah, P., Badullovich, N., Myers, T., Goldberg, M., & Marlon, J. (2023). Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, December 2022. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

Funding Source

The research was funded by the 11th Hour Project, the Energy Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the Grantham Foundation.