Republicans and climate change: What Pew Research Center surveys tell us

As former US President Donald Trump is winning in the US primaries, making it probable that he will compete against US President Joe Biden in November, the Pew Research Center released an analysis on Friday based on multiple surveys to show where Republicans, whom Trump aims to represent, stand on climate change.

The former president has called climate change a “make-believe problem” and “non-existent.” In December, during a Fox News town hall, he said that “the only global warming we should be thinking about and worrying about … is nuclear global warming.”

The Pew report, authored by researchers Brian Kennedy and Alec Tyson, presented information from Pew surveys about where Republicans stand on climate and energy issues, including that only 12% of Republicans and Republican-leaners say dealing with climate change should be a top priority for Congress and the president.

Priorities for Republican voters

A survey conducted in January 2024 found that 84% of Republicans believed the economy should be a top priority for American leaders. However, only 12% considered dealing with climate change necessary – the lowest among the 20 priorities listed. 

However, more than half (54%) of Republicans did say in a spring 2023 survey that they strongly or somewhat supported the US participating in international efforts to help reduce the effects of climate change.

Part of this could be because Republicans do not believe that climate change and extreme weather events are affecting them. The analysis highlighted that in a March 2023 survey, only around a third (36%) of Republicans said climate change impacted their communities, compared to 85% of Democrats. 

“Republicans are less likely than Democrats to report that their local community has experienced at least one of five forms of extreme weather – including droughts, intense storms and wildfires – in the last year (58% vs. 79%),” the authors wrote. “These partisan differences hold even when looking at Republicans and Democrats who live in the same region.”

Regarding using fossil fuels and sources of renewable energy, Republicans tend to want access to it all. The Pew analysis highlighted a June 2023 survey showing Republicans favor both increased offshore oil and gas drilling and more solar power. 

For instance, the survey shows that 70% of Republicans support increasing solar power farms, 60% more wind power and 67% more nuclear power plants. At the same time, 87% say fossil fuels should continue to be part of the US energy picture, and more than half of Republicans (57%) say America should never stop using oil, coal or natural gas.

One of the reasons for Republican hesitancy to transition is that they believe transitioning to renewables would harm their way of life, according to Pew. For example, 65% of Republicans think it would increase the prices Americans pay to heat and cool their homes and what they pay for everyday goods. Some 59% said it could harm the reliability of the electrical grid.

This latest analysis comes against the backdrop of a 920-page report published in April 2023 by conservatives under the title “Project 2025,” in which they lay out some of some of the actions Trump could take if re-elected. A portion of the document focuses on the “Biden Administration’s climate fanaticism,” which they say “will need a whole-of-government unwinding.”

The paper, written by hundreds of conservatives, also says that the Biden administration’s “extreme climate policies … worsened global food insecurity and hunger. Its anti-fossil-fuel agenda has led to a sharp spike in global energy prices.” It notes that the financial resources needed to transition from fossil fuels are unachievable. Therefore, USAID should “cease its war on fossil fuels in the developing world and support the responsible management of oil and gas reserves.

“The next conservative administration should rescind all climate policies from its foreign aid programs,” according to Project 2025. 

Other recommendations include eliminating carbon capture utilization and storage programs.

However, some conservatives are supporting efforts to reduce climate change, such as the more than 80 members of the Conservative Climate Caucus led by Utah Congressman John Curtis. 

The Conservative Climate Caucus website explains that these Republicans believe “the climate is changing, and decades of a global industrial era that has brought prosperity to the world has also contributed to that change.”

The group said they aim to support policies that reduce global emissions, including innovative solutions to enable the safer use of fossil fuels. The caucus said it “educates House Republicans on climate policies and legislation consistent with conservative values” while fighting “radical progressive climate proposals that would hurt our economy, American workers, and national security.” 

The Environment and Climate Change portal is produced in cooperation with the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post maintains all editorial decisions related to the content.

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