A Yale University poll from earlier this month says most Americans see climate change as playing a role in hurting prices and the cost of living.
Pollsters found that 65 percent of voters believe climate change is contributing to rising costs at least “a little.” This includes 88 percent of liberal Democrats and 77 percent of moderate or conservative Republicans.
Just under half of those polled, at 49 percent, said they think policies promoting clean energy will improve economic growth and provide new jobs.
“I find it stunning that even some people in the climate community say that we should stop talking about the climate because there’s a cost-of-living crisis going on,” Yale Program on Climate Change Communication Anthony Leiserowitz told The Guardian.
“It’s a fundamental error to treat these issues as mutually exclusive — climate solutions are also cost-of-living solutions,” Leiserowitz continued. “Most of the elite discourse is very bad at estimating or understanding levels of public concern, and this is a good example of this.”
The Yale poll found that majorities of voters also favored reentering the Paris Climate Agreement, using more renewable energy and using less fossil fuels.
President Trump has long cast doubt on the science behind climate change, and his administration has sought to rollback efforts to mitigate global warming.
The polling came prior to the National Science Foundation’s directive to “break up” the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought called the facility “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”
The center’s research includes climate science and seeks to model flooding, predict severe weather and provide air quality forecasts. Rutgers University professor Enrique Curchitser said axing the climate research will weaken the country’s weather forecasting ability.
The Yale survey was conducted Nov. 6-14 and included 1,146 respondents. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.