Climate Change in the American Mind: Fall 2024
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Provided by: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication|Published on: March 30, 2025
Scientific ReportsScientist Reviewed
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This report from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication shows the results from a survey given to roughly 1,000 people following the 2024 election to determine their opinions about climate change actions, policies, and energy production topics.
- The results reveal the opinions of those surveyed about civic actions, government responses to climate change, the priorities of government policies, the economy, environmental justice, climate education, and other topics relating to climate change.
Subjects: Social Studies, Civics
Authors: Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Emily Goddard, Jennifer Carman, Teresa Myers, Marija Verner, Jennifer Marlon, Matthew Goldberg, Joshua Ettinger, Julia Fine and Kathryn Thier
Region: United States
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The Executive Summary provides all pertinent information, allowing classes with limited time to access the information.
- The full report offers charts that help students visualize how each political group of participants responded to the questions.
Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with climate change, related policies, and solutions.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Before reading the results of the survey, if students have some background knowledge about climate change, teachers can ask students if they agree or disagree with the statements and then have them see how their answers compare to the survey results.
- A portion of the survey references the Inflation Reduction Act and the Paris Climate Agreement. If students are unfamiliar with these, they can use the CFR Education: The Inflation Reduction Act and CFR Education: The Paris Agreement resources to gain familiarity. Additionally, students can research what has happened with these and other climate legislation recently.
- In many cases, the majority of those surveyed support climate change policies. Assuming this sample is an accurate reflection of the voting population, students can discuss outside factors that limit government climate action despite voters' desires. Students can also compare this data with the data on participants' willingness to participate in civic action and the percentage of participants who have contacted their government officials.
- After reading the section about the economy and clean energy, students can research careers in clean energy or other green careers. The Green Careers for a Changing Climate Documentary or the lesson plan, An Ocean of Opportunity, can facilitate this exploration.
This resource presents the results of a nationwide survey of voters focused on climate change and policy. The results are presented through clear text and straightforward graphs, with the complete survey results in the appendix. The report clearly outlines the overall broad support for climate action despite some differences of opinion due to politics. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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About the Partner Provider
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication conducts scientific research on public opinion and behavior. They also engage the public in climate change science and solutions, in partnerships with governments, media, companies, and civil society.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
