Tracking Energy and Climate Trends
Monthly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults (including roughly 2,000 registered voters) and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
As emissions mount and the globe continues to warm, climate change and the energy transition are increasingly on the public's mind, both in terms of how they regard their own choices and whether they approve of their governments' approaches.
Tracking Energy and Climate Trends represents Morning Consult's ongoing effort to track how the U.S. public feels about energy and climate. It includes regularly updated climate concern and disaster concern trackers, broken down by party, race/ethnicity and generation, as well as a collection of stories based on other trended data on energy sources, fuel and electricity prices and more.
Key Takeaways
Climate Concern Falls Among Voters: Less than 2 in 5 voters -- and a similar share of all adults -- say they are “very concerned” about climate change and its impacts, falling by 5 percentage points in May to 35% this month. Among political parties, Democrats had the largest decrease in concern of 7 points to 56%, while concern among independents fell by 5 points to 28%. Within the race and ethnicity demographic, concern among Black adults dropped by 11 points to 36%.
3 in 10 Adults “Very Concerned” About Disasters: Concern about the impact of natural disasters in local communities fell slightly among U.S. adults, dropping 6 points to 30%, falling to similar levels of concern among all voters. Concern among parties fell the most among Democrats, decreasing by 11 points to 42%.
Confidence in U.S. Climate Action Falls Among Voters: Fewer than half of voters (45%) are confident that the United States will reduce its carbon emissions and slow the impacts of climate change in the next decade, a decrease of 8 points from the previous month. Confidence also fell among all political parties, as Democrats and Republicans saw similar decreases of 8 points to fall to 55% and 38%, respectively.
Interest in Gasoline-powered Vehicles Falls: Consumer interest in gasoline-powered vehicles over the next decade fell by 5 points to 62%. Interest in purchasing an electric vehicle and a hybrid fell slightly by 3 points, to 45% and 52%, respectively.
Half of Adults “Very Concerned” About Future Electricity Prices: The latest data shows that half of U.S. adults are “very concerned” about future electricity prices, increasing slightly by 2 points in May. Roughly 2 in 5 adults are “very concerned” about current prices.
Tracking Disaster Concern
Monthly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults (including roughly 2,000 registered voters) and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Tracking Confidence in U.S. Climate Action by Party
Monthly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,000 registered voters and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Tracking Vehicle Interest Over the Coming Decade
Monthly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Tracking Electricity Price Concern
Monthly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Source of This Data
Methodology
The Taking the Temperature energy and climate tracker relies on a monthly survey to track how U.S. voters' and adults' opinions on climate change and energy evolve over time. The latest results are based on a survey of 1,984 registered voters and 2,202 U.S. adults conducted June 1-4, 2023, with an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
In February 2023, Morning Consult changed the survey frequency of our Energy and Climate Tracker to a monthly cadence. To request weekly data from May 29, 2021, to Feb. 4, 2023, please reach out to [email protected].
About Morning Consult
Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.
Email [email protected] to speak with a member of the Morning Consult team.
Julia Martinez is a data reporter at Morning Consult covering energy and climate change. @ByJuliaMartinez
Brian Yermal Jr. is an editor at Morning Consult for coverage of energy, finance, health and tech. @BrianYermal