Yale Project on Climate Change Communication

Are Americans Angry at Wall Street Bankers? Do They Support the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protests?

December 17, 2011 marked three months since the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Acknowledging the impact of social movements across the world (from the Middle East to Wall Street), Time Magazine named “The Protester” as its 2011 Person of the Year.  In this Climate Note, we examine what Americans from different political parties think about the Occupy Wall Street protests and how angry they are at Wall Street.

In a national survey completed in November 2011, a large majority of Democrats (83%) and Independents (74%) supported the Occupy Wall Street protests, with less support among Republicans (42%) and Tea Party members (32%).

Large majorities of all groups, however, were somewhat to extremely angry at Wall Street bankers, including Democrats (78%), Independents (81%), Republicans (59%) and Tea Party members (65%).

Climate Note: Do Americans support an international treaty on climate change?

On December 11 at the Durban (South Africa) Conference on Climate Change, the world agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol and begin negotiations on a new global treaty that will require all countries (developed and developing) to reduce their greenhouse gas emisssions.

In a national survey completed in November 2011, we found that a large majority of Americans (66%) support signing an international treaty requiring the US to cut emissions 90% by 2050:

Breaking the result down by political party (among registered voters), we found that large majorities of Democrats (81%) and Independents support such a treaty (61%), while almost half of Republicans support such a treaty (49%).

Source: Public Support for Climate & Energy Policies in November 2011

Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in November 2011

Highlights and Changes since May 2011:

• Public understanding that global warming is happening remained essentially unchanged at 63 percent, while belief that it is caused mostly by human activities increased three points since May 2011, to 50 percent.
• A majority of Americans (57%) now disagree with the statement, “With the economy in such bad shape, the US can’t afford to reduce global warming” – an 8 point increase in disagreement since May 2011.
• 65 percent said that global warming is affecting weather in the United States.
• Majorities said that global warming made the record high temperatures in the US, the drought in Texas and Oklahoma, the Mississippi River floods, the record snowfalls in the US, and Hurricane Irene worse.
• Only 14 percent of Americans have ever heard of “the United Nations’ panel of climate experts, the “Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”
• Just over half (54%) say that they are very (9%) or somewhat worried (45%) about the U.S. running out of natural resources.

Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming in November 2011

Americans' Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming in November 2011 reports results from a national survey fielded from October 16 to November 12, 2011 with 1,000 adults, using the online research panel of Knowledge Networks. The report includes measures of public energy conservation, consumer activism, and political action, and how these have changed since May 2011, June 2010, January 2010, and November 2008.

Public Support for Climate & Energy Policies in November 2011

Highlights:

Revenue Neutral Carbon Taxes

• 65 percent of Americans support a revenue neutral carbon tax that would “help create jobs and decrease pollution,” including majorities of registered Republicans (51%), Independents (69%), and Democrats (77%).
• Likewise, 60 percent of Americans support a $10 per ton carbon tax if the revenue were used to reduce federal income taxes, even when told this would “slightly increase the cost of many things you buy, including food, clothing, and electricity.” This policy is supported by 48 percent of registered Republicans, 50 percent of Independents, and 74 percent of Democrats.

Opposition to Subsidies

• 69 percent of Americans oppose federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, including 67 percent of registered Republicans, 80 percent of Independents, and 68 percent of Democrats.
• 54 percent of Americans oppose subsidies to the ethanol industry to make fuel from corn, including 56 percent of registered Republicans, 65 percent of Independents, and 49 percent of Democrats.