A new survey conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts finds that two-thirds of Americans think the federal government should do more on climate change. “At a time when partisanship colors most views of policy, broad majorities of the public – including more than half of Republicans and overwhelming shares of Democrats – say they would favor a range of initiatives to reduce the impacts of climate change, including large-scale tree planting efforts, tax credits for businesses that capture carbon emissions and tougher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles,” according to their summary.
The key takeaways:
- 49% of Republicans who are millennials or younger say the federal government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change.
- That’s compared to 38% of Republicans in Generation X and 25% of Republicans who are baby boomers and older.
- Nearly 90% of those surveyed support the idea of planting a trillion trees around the world to absorb carbon emissions (including 88% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents).
Where you live in relation to the coastline makes a difference with 45% of Republicans living less than 25 miles from the coast acknowledging they experience local impacts of climate change. Only 31% of those Republicans who live more than 300 miles from the coast acknowledge seeing local impacts.