During the 2024 presidential election campaign, YouGov asked registered voters their views on eight topics, including the environment and energy — the environmental and energy issues that matter most to them, the policies they support, and the candidates they trust.
Among our findings:
- Issues relating to the environment and energy are more important to Harris' supporters than to Trump's. Within the overall issue, Harris supporters are more likely to emphasize environmental topics, including climate change and air and water quality. Supporters of Trump are more focused on energy, including oil and gas production and energy affordability.
- Harris generally outperforms Trump on environmental issues, including climate change, air and water quality, and wildlife protection. She is more trusted to handle renewable energy, but Trump has the edge for handling oil and gas production. Voters are divided on who they trust more to handle the issues of energy affordability, natural disasters, energy-grid modernization, and land use and zoning.
- Harris' proposals relating to environmental and energy issues generally receive more support than do those backed by Trump. Majorities of Harris' and Trump's supporters favor her plans to strengthen penalties for environmental damage and to increase funding for climate-related disasters.
- Majorities of voters favor Trump's plans to increase production of two domestic energy sources: oil and gas, and nuclear power. Trump's least popular proposals are reducing auto fuel-efficiency standards and withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords.
- Plans to electrify government vehicles and to raise auto energy efficiency standards are correctly connected by majorities of voters as belonging to Harris. Most associate Trump with his proposal to increase domestic oil and gas production, but less than half are aware of each of the following plans of his: to reduce fuel-efficiency standards and to expand nuclear power.
Which environmental and energy issues do voters care about?
In a series of recent surveys, we asked voters to choose up to three issues that are most important to them out of a list of eight: the economy, health care, immigration, crime, social issues, environment and energy, foreign policy, and education.
To better understand which specific environmental and energy issues voters care about, we asked them to select up to three issues from a list of 10 that are most important to them.
Who do voters trust to handle the environment and energy?
Since Harris entered the presidential race against Trump, we've tracked who voters trust more to handle environmental issues.
In our latest survey, we asked voters to tell us which of 10 environment and energy issues they trust Harris and Trump to handle.
Which environmental and energy policies do voters support?
We asked voters whether they support or oppose selected environmental and energy policies that have been backed by Harris, Trump, or their respective parties. It was not revealed to respondents which candidate was connected to which policy. The policies come from the 2024 Democratic and Republican Party platforms, as well as publicly available interviews, speeches, debates, and online posts by the candidates. For more sourcing information, see the details provided here.
How familiar are voters with Harris' and Trump's environment and energy agendas?
After providing their opinions on various environmental and energy policies, respondents were asked which candidate they think supports each one, with options of Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, both, or neither. Respondents who selected "both candidates" are included as saying both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Explore Americans' views on policies across all issue areas:
See other polling related to the environment and energy
- Here's where Americans worry about natural disasters
- Many Americans are skeptical of electric cars
- Americans support foreign disaster aid, but split over climate change's role in disasters
- Many Americans link increases in extreme weather to climate change
- How Democrats and Republicans view energy sources differently
- Majorities of Americans support the Willow oil project and want energy independence for the U.S.
- Majorities of Americans say it's too hot where they live and expect temperatures to rise in 10 years
- How do Americans feel about walking, driving, and other ways they get around?
- Many Americans in Western states are concerned about water shortages
- Most Americans support the climate and energy legislation passed by the Senate
- Whether to prioritize the environment or the economy splits American opinion
- Is high density worse for the environment, traffic, and crime? Most Americans think so
- Most climate scientists expect catastrophe in their lifetimes, few Americans say the same
Curious where voters stand on other issues? Click the links below to learn more.
See the full results for these surveys
See the full list of the policies and their sources
Methodology: This poll was conducted online on September 26 - 29, 2024 among 1,145 U.S. adult citizens, including 1,020 registered voters. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample, as well as for registered voters, is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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