A woman shops at Trader Joe’s at on March 23, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Nearly 3 in 4 Republicans said the economy should take precedence over the environment, “even at the risk of ignoring climate change,” according to a poll released Thursday.
In an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 72 percent of Republicans surveyed said the economy should be prioritized, even at the risk of ignoring climate change — a significantly higher share than the 59 percent of Republicans who answered similarly in 2018.
A vast majority of Democrats, 80 percent, said climate change should be prioritized “even at the risk of slowing economic growth” — a number that has remained largely unchanged from 2018.
The 13-point jump in Republicans who said they would prioritize the economy is driving the data of Americans overall, even as a majority still prioritizes climate change.
In the most recent survey, 53 percent of Americans said addressing climate change should be a priority, while 44 percent said economic growth should be. In 2018, 58 percent prioritized climate change while 34 percent prioritized economic growth.
The data collected in the latest poll came despite record-breaking heat waves and environmental disasters that scientists attribute, in some part, to climate change.
“Despite a near-daily stream of extreme weather news stories, Americans increasingly are treating climate change as a partisan issue,” Marist College Institute for Public Opinion Director Lee Miringoff said in a news release. “Nonetheless, majorities are concerned, especially about how climate change is hitting their own communities.”
Most American respondents said they recognize climate change as a threat, with 62 percent saying it affects their local communities, 56 percent saying climate change is a “major” threat and 55 percent saying it’s causing “serious” impacts.
There are still partisan differences in responses to community-specific questions on climate change, with 61 percent of Republicans saying climate change is not having much or any impact on their communities, 43 percent saying that it won’t have a serious impact at all and 37 percent saying it’s a “minor” threat.
The poll was conducted from July 24-27 with 1,285 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
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Almost 3 in 4 Republicans say economy should take precedence over environment: poll - The Hill
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