American Climate Perspectives: Majority of Americans (Minus Some Republicans) Disagree With Trump’s Anti-Climate Platform

President Trump has signed a raft of executive orders reversing Obama era climate policies – in clear opposition to the will of the majority of American people.

Instead of rolling back climate progress, slashing budgets, or rejuvenating fossil fuels, a majority (71%) of Americans would rather our country continue on the path toward clean energy.

In our May 2017 American Climate Perspectives Survey, ecoAmerica found less than one third of Americans agree with any of President Trump’s executive orders to reverse climate progress.

President Trump has announced a number of executive orders that reverse policies put in place under the Obama administration. Do you agree with President Trump that America should: 801 respondent(s), select one, % Total Disagree vs. % Total Agree

With Trump’s executive order to open offshore drilling leases on Atlantic coastlines, bipartisan opposition has surfaced with both sides voicing their objections, underscoring the detrimental economic impacts drilling can have on local communities. Opposition is weaker, however, amongst Republicans. One-third of Republicans strongly agreed we should remove oil and gas offshore drilling restrictions, whereas seven in ten Democrats strongly disagreed with this.

President Trump has announced a number of executive orders that reverse policies put in place under the Obama administration. Do you agree with President Trump that America should remove restrictions on offshore oil and gas drilling:
801 respondent(s), select one, % Strongly Disagree vs. % Strongly Agree

Republicans are also likely to agree with Trump’s executive orders at rates double or more than Democrats or Independents.

Findings by political party, select one, % Total Agree:

Opponents to climate progress often tout that environmental policy hurts the economy, and many Americans believe this. The good news, however, is that the clean energy boom is having a promising impact on attitudes. Only ¼ of Americans believe removing environmental protections will help the economy. A significant percentage more (40%) of Americans believe clean energy creates more jobs than fossil fuels.

President Trump says that removing environmental protections will create jobs and stimulate the economy. Others say clean energy conservation creates more jobs. What is closer to your opinion? 801 respondent(s), select all that apply, % total agree:

Probing further, we see that three times as many Democrats agree removing environmental protections would hurt the economy than Republicans. And, there is a 39-percentage-point difference in Democrats who say clean energy creates more jobs than fossil fuels and Republicans who insist fossil fuels are more beneficial for our economy.

Findings by political party, select all that apply:

But politics is not the only factor impact attitudes on climate. There are gender differences, too. Nearly twice as many males as females agree removing environmental protections would help the economy, while a significant portion of females say fewer restrictions will hurt the economy. In addition, slightly more females say clean energy creates more jobs than fossil fuels.

Findings by gender, select all that apply:

Age is also a factor. More so than any other age group, half of 18-29 year olds say removing environmental protections will hurt the economy and say clean energy creates more jobs than fossil fuels.

Findings by age, select all that apply:

Methodology
ecoAmerica designed and fielded this survey. It was conducted online from April 7 – 13, 2017 using Survey Monkey. The nationally representative sample of 801 adults was drawn from an online panel and respondents were screened to be over the age of 18 residing in the United States. The margin of error for the sample is +/-3.5%. In interpreting survey results, all sample surveys are subject to possible sampling error; that is, the results of a survey may differ from those, which would be obtained if the entire population were interviewed. The size of the sampling error depends upon both the total number of respondents in the survey and the percentage distribution of responses to a particular question. For example, if 50% of respondents in a sample of 900 respondents answered, “Yes” to a particular question, we can be 95% confident that the true percentage will fall within 3.5 points, or from 46.5% to 53.5%.

Suggested Citation
Speiser, M., and Fery, P. (2017). ecoAmerica American Climate Perspectives: May 2017. Majority of Americans (Minus Some Republicans) Disagree With Trump’s Anti-Climate Platform. ecoAmerica. Washington, D.C.

For more information contact Meighen Speiser, ecoAmerica Chief Engagement Officer at meighen@ecoAmerica.org