This year we’ve once again seen record-breaking temperatures, droughts, destructive storms and climate-related fatalities across the U.S. Increasingly, the belief that human industrial activity is driving extreme weather events is becoming more mainstream. And while Democratic voters are still the most motivated to vote based on climate concerns, every year they are joined by more independents and Republicans. In the upcoming midterm elections, half of registered voters have indicated that climate change anxiety will impact their vote for Congress, according to a recent Washington Post- ABC News poll.
In the past, younger voters have been more worried about climate change than older generations, but this year voters of all ages expressed similar concerns when it comes to the environment. Communities of color, who face disparate effects of climate change, including inferior air quality, unsafe drinking water and other environmental hazards, express greater concerns than white Americans. And while climate concerns lag behind economic ones for most voters, the number who say that addressing climate change is “one of the most important issues” in their vote is similar to the number who cite crime and immigration as most important.
Read more +