(CN) — A Pew Research Center survey released Thursday found marked polarization between Democrats and Republicans on the Biden administration's approach to climate change, but also a sense among most Democrats that more could be done and bipartisan agreement over ideas like planting more trees and driving hybrid and electric vehicles.
Among all respondents, 49% said President Joe Biden’s climate policies are taking the country in the right direction, while 47% fear the opposite.
But just 15% of Republicans are optimistic about Biden's climate agenda, compared to 79% of Democrats. Among Democrats, 61% believe Biden could do “a lot more” than has been accomplished since he took office in January 2021.
“Overall, the American public overall is divided over the direction the Biden administration policies on climate are taking,” said Cary Funk, Pew's director of science and society research. “There is a very strong connection to the political parties, and that's in keeping with what we've seen over the past couple of decades. But you see among Democrats, while most are agreeing that the Biden administration policies are going in the right direction, you see a majority of that group thinking they could be doing a lot more. That's a sign of some kind of discontent or disappointment.”
Despite a bold campaign agenda, climate achievements during the first year of Biden’s presidency were highlighted by executive orders reversing Trump-era policies and rejoining the Paris agreement. This year, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included provisions aimed at rolling back greenhouse gas emissions such as investing in mass transportation and infrastructure for electric vehicles, but a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June diminished the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to limit emissions from power plants. Meanwhile, the administration’s more targeted climate change legislation, such as the Build Back Better Act, has stalled in Congress.
The Pew survey found similar polarization among respondents when asked if the federal government is doing too little to reduce the effects of global climate change. While 58% off all respondents agreed the government is not doing enough, just 28% of Republican agreed, compared to 82% of Democrats.
There was some middle ground, however. Sizable majorities of Republicans and Democrats, and 90% of all respondents, favored a plan to plant about 1 trillion trees to absorb carbon emissions. Another 79% percent of respondents believe in providing a tax credit to encourage businesses to develop carbon capture and storage technologies. Two-thirds supported incentives to encourage the use of hybrid and electric vehicles.
“That's really important to keep in mind that while we often see partisan divisions on these kinds of issues, we can still find areas of common agreement, particularly on these kinds of specific proposals to address climate change,” Funk said.
The survey, which was conducted before the Supreme Court decision on power plant emissions, determined 72% of respondents favored requiring power companies to use more energy from renewable sources, while 68% endorsed a proposal to tax corporations based on their carbon footprint.
“Partisan gaps are more pronounced on these approaches to reduce the effects of climate change, but they are not absolute,” the report stated. “About half of Republicans — including majorities of moderate Republicans — say they favor these approaches to limiting emissions, as do most Democrats.”
Strikingly, 71% of respondents indicated their community experienced at least one of five forms of extreme weather in the past year, trends that have been linked to a warming climate. Forty-three percent of Americans experience intense storms or flooding, 42% endured prolonged periods of unusually hot weather, 31% experienced drought or water shortages, 21% experienced major wildfires, and 16% experienced rising sea levels that eroded shorelines.
Other key findings of the survey include:
• Fifty-five percent of respondents oppose phasing out the production of new gasoline cars and trucks by 2035, while 43% are in favor.
• Forty-two percent of respondents say they are very or somewhat likely to seriously consider purchasing an electric vehicle.
• Americans are more likely to view stricter environmental laws as worth the cost than to say they cost too many jobs and hurt the economy.
• Younger Democrats are more likely than older Democrats to express frustration with the administration on climate change.
• Lower-income adults as well as Black and Hispanic adults are especially likely to report environmental problems in their communities.
• Within the GOP, younger adults are more likely than older adults to see a need for federal government action or offer policy support on environmental and climate issues.
Historically, Funk said, climate policy has been one of the more politically polarizing issues researched by Pew.
“What we're really referencing is the idea of how the average Democrat and the average Republican have grown further apart across a range of issues,” Funk said. “So it definitely encompasses a wide range of social and political issues. Climate, energy, and social issues have seen wide partisan divisions for at least a few decades.”
A total of 10,282 U.S. adults were surveyed between May 2 and 8. Among those surveyed, 4,874 identified as Republican or Republican-leaning independents, while 5,149 identified as Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.
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