Title: Poll: Large Majority of Americans Support Climate Change Action
A new poll from the Georgetown Climate Center indicates that nearly all Americans, regardless of political beliefs, support efforts to combat climate change.
JUNE 25, 2013A NEW GEORGETOWN POLLindicates that nearly all Americans support reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other efforts to combat climate change, which President Obama will address in his speech here today.
Obama is speaking on steps of Old North today at 1:35 p.m.
The nonpartisanGeorgetown Climate Center, located within the university’s Law Center, and the Georgetown Public Policy Institutefound that 87 percent of Americans support some type EPA action on the issue, including 78 percent of Republicans and 94 percent of Democrats.
The poll also shows that three in four Americans now say that there is solid evidence that the average temperature has been getting warmer in recent decades.
BROAD CONSENSUS
“Like many Americans, we are looking forward to the release of President Obama’s climate plan at Georgetown, and the opportunity to work with the administration on promoting clean energy and building resilient communities,” says Vicki Arroyo, the center’s executive director. “The poll we are releasing today shows that nearly all Americans want the administration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and to take steps to protect future generations from the worst climate change impacts.”
The poll also found that only 13 percent of Americans want Congress to prevent the EPA from enforcing regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and only 22 percent of Republicans and 6 percent of Democrats want Congress to intervene.
The Georgetown Climate Center works to advance effective climate, energy and transportation policies in the United States that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to climate change. It also serves as a resource to states and other entities on climate policy, clean energy and resilience.
STATE FLEXIBILITY
Arroyo says that Americans are particularly supportive of any EPA plan that would give states some flexibility to adopt clean energy policies to meet national greenhouse gas emission targets while holding states accountable for their progress.
A total of 51 percent of those who favor EPA action support a path that includes some state flexibility in meeting new regulations.
A total of 1,874 respondents participated in the poll, which was conducted in February 2013. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percent.
The Georgetown Climate Center poll was made possible with support from Georgetown’sEnvironment Initiative, which fosters cross-campus collaboration on environment and energy issues.