Forty-two percent (42%) of voters believe human behavior can stop climate change. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 33% of voters disagree and 25% are not sure.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of Democrats believe climate change can be stopped by human behavior. Just 36% of Independents and 23% of Republicans agree.
Most voters under 45 believe climate change can be stopped by changing human behavior. Older voters are less certain.
The survey also found that 80% of voters recognize that “The earth’s climate has been changing throughout history. There are historical cycles of cooling and warming.” This knowledge, however, has not prevented concerns that this time something might be different.
Still, concerns about climate change has not developed into support for major Green New Deal initiatives. One proposal included in the Democrats’ “reconciliation” plan would lead to creation of a federal Climate Climate Corps. Among other things, that proposal would hire at least 750,000 environmental activists to visit people’s homes and conduct energy audits. Most voters oppose that plan.
Overall, only 38% of voters who have heard of the Green New Deal think it is even somewhat likely to stop climate change. A larger number (49%) think it is at least somewhat likely to destroy the economy. Additionally, most believe that the Green New Deal will increase energy costs and reduce America’s energy independence.
A recent Vox article suggested “It’s time to rethink air conditioning.” Presenting air conditioning as a major environmental threat, the article suggested phasing out private air conditioning in homes and provide community cooling spaces as well. Just 22% of voters even somewhat favor such an approach.
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Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left more than seven years ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted by Scott Rasmussen using a mixed mode approach from September 2-5, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Most respondents were contacted online or via text while 151 were contacted using automated phone polling techniques. Online respondents were selected from a list of Registered Voters and through a process of Random Digital Engagement. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 2.8 percentage points.
