Less than half of Americans now believe climate change is caused exclusively by human factors, according to a new survey from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).. Climate change by party breakdown .Although the percentage of Americans who believe climate change is real stayed steady at around 74%, the survey found just 49% of respondents agreed that climate change is “mostly or entirely” caused by human activities compared to 60% in 2018..Ironically, the biggest decline was among Democrats and independent voters. In 2018, 72% of Democrats and 61% of independents said climate change is a result of human activities. In 2023, this fell to 60% and 42%, respectively.. Americans’ willingness to pay a carbon fee .The change is also reflected Americans’ willingness to pay a carbon tax or make economic sacrifices to fight climate change. EPIC and AP-NORC have been tracking Americans’ willingness to pay a fee to combat climate change since 2016. Today, just 38% of Americans say they would be willing to pay a monthly carbon fee of $1, down 14 percentage points from 52% in 2021..Their support for the fee decreases as the impact on their energy bills grows. About three in 10 would be willing to pay $10, $20, or $40 monthly, and about one in five would be willing to pay a monthly fee of $75 or $100..“It’s striking that Americans’ willingness to pay even a $1 monthly fee to combat climate change fell to below half of respondents — the lowest level since we began tracking this data. On the other hand, a consistent, sizeable minority remains willing to pay quite a bit, even $100 or more per month. Our estimates suggest those respondents help keep the overall average at around $30 per ton of CO2,” said Michael Greenstone, director of EPIC and the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago..“Still, no matter how you look at it, American’s willingness to pay for climate policy is far below what research projects climate change will cost society per ton of CO2 emissions.”.That sentiment extends to electric vehicles. The survey found just two in 10 Americans are prepared to buy EVs, despite lavish grants and subsidies of up to $7,500 under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The upfront cost of purchasing the vehicle outweighs the fuel and maintenance savings of owning one in the mind of many Americans, EPIC said.. Belief in human driven climate change down across all demographic groups .Barely half — 49% — support the subsidies in principle, and another 46% support increasing funding for installing charging stations. Indeed, nearly 80% of the public cite the lack of charging options as a barrier to purchasing an EV equally spread among residents of cities, suburbs, or rural areas..Other policies designed to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road are less popular, EPIC found. Just 35% of Americans support stricter fuel efficiency standards to encourage EV sales and only 27% support requiring that all new car sales be electric or hybrid vehicles by 2035..Additional findings from the survey include:.As the Inflation Reduction Act begins to make incentives available for renewable power, Americans remain mixed in their support for the power lines needed to deliver that electricity to consumers. Fifty-six percent of Americans support a proposal to build high-voltage power lines to transport renewable energy to places in need, but support dropped to 48% when told that the power lines would be built in their neighborhood.About half of Americans think climate policy is important. However, this view is largely partisan. Democrats rank climate change policy as the third most important issue out of six, behind the economy and healthcare and followed by energy policy. Republicans rank climate change as the least important policy issue to them — though, three in 10 still cite it as very or extremely important.Half of adults say scientists have a lot or a great deal of influence on their views about climate change split on party lines — 34% percent of Democrats say Democratic leaders have a lot or a great deal of influence on their views, and 19% of Republicans say the same about Republican leaders.Most Americans are taking actions to save money on their energy bills such as turning off lights, reducing heat and A/C use, and buying energy efficient appliances. Fewer are making more significant behavioural changes like using renewable energy or driving an electric car.
