A recent poll indicates growing American concern for climate change, though skepticism persists about the efficacy of President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
Alexa St. John and Linley Sanders report for The Associated Press.
In short:
- About 45% of U.S. adults report increasing worry about climate change, with marked differences between political parties.
- Despite the Inflation Reduction Act's incentives for clean energy, only a small fraction of Americans recognize personal benefits from the policy.
- Confidence in the long-term effectiveness of the IRA's provisions to address climate change remains low among the general populace.
Key quote:
"We have four children that are in their 20s. It’s like, what’s our grandkids’ world going to be like?"
— Ron Theusch, truck driver and resident of Alden, Minnesota
Why this matters:
The partisan divide on this issue is also significant. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to view climate change as a major threat and to prioritize it as a national issue. This divide extends to perceptions of President Biden's climate policies, with Democrats more likely to support aggressive climate actions compared to their Republican counterparts, who show considerable skepticism about the impact and necessity of these policies.
In 2022, Peter Dykstra asked: Will the Inflation Reduction Act mark the time when fossil fuels begin to fossilize?
