Environment

Guidance for Lawmakers

1. Americans are not opposed to policy initiatives aimed at improving the environment, but they are not pressing for them at this time.

2. The environment barely registers as a top-of-mind concern for the public when Americans are asked to name the country's top problem. Also, only 2% of Americans spontaneously mention the environment or pollution when asked to name the top one or two problems they want the president and Congress to deal with. By contrast, as of March 2008, the economy and Iraq are each mentioned by nearly half of Americans.

3. The environment does top the list when Americans are asked to look forward 25 years. On this basis, 14% in March 2008 say the environment will be the nation's top problem, compared with 12% mentioning the economy and 9% energy.

4. The environment is a latent concern. Most Americans believe the government is doing too little to protect the environment, many worry about environmental conditions, and two-thirds believe the quality of the environment is getting worse, not better.

5. There has been no meaningful change in recent years in Americans' perceptions of the overall quality of the environment. At the same time, Americans have grown more pessimistic about future environmental conditions. Sixty-eight percent of Americans in 2008, up from 58% in 2004 and the highest Gallup has recorded, say the quality of the environment is getting worse; just 26% say it is getting better.

6. On the prominent global warming issue, most Americans take it seriously as a problem. Sixty-five percent believe the effects of global warming are already manifest or will happen within five years. Also, more Americans believe human activities rather than natural causes explain the rise in the Earth's temperature (58% vs. 38%).

7. A growing proportion of Americans believe global warming will pose a serious threat in their own lifetimes -- now 40%, up from 35% in 2006 and 31% in 2001.

8. The environmental policy initiatives Americans would most welcome appear to be those with the most direct impact on drinking water: addressing water pollution, and maintaining the availability of fresh water for household needs.

9. The 49% in 2008 saying the environment should take precedence over the economy is on the low end of the historical range for those taking this position. Nearly as many (42%) now favor the economy in this tradeoff. In the late 1990s through 2000, the percentage choosing the environment ranged from 65% to 70%.

10. Americans are also closely divided on the tradeoff between the environment and energy source development, with 50% choosing the environment and 41% choosing the development of U.S. energy supplies.

    
    

Fine Print

The environment appears to be a latent concern for Americans, meaning that survey research dealing with this topic must be scrutinized carefully. Open-ended questions pick up little top-of-mind concern about the environment, while closed-ended questions elicit significant levels of concern (although still less than that seen for other issues).

Historically, concern about the environment appears to wax and wane depending on the salience of other pressing concerns such as the economy and foreign policy problems.

Context

Relative to other issues, the environment falls below the economy, healthcare, crime, energy, and Social Security as something Americans worry about (as of March 2008). It was on par with illegal immigration and the possibility of future terrorism.

Urgency: Overall Importance as Political Issue

There is underlying concern about the environment that could, in theory, be activated by politicians, particularly if the environment as an issue is connected to tangible aspects of day-to-day living for average Americans. But it ranks significantly below the leading policy issues of the day as an obvious and pressing concern.

Key Subgroup Differences

Attitudes on the environment are highly partisan. According to Gallup's environmental outlook index, a plurality of Republicans (43%) are positive about environmental conditions, contrasted with only 10% of Democrats. Most Democrats (and independents) are negative about environmental conditions.

Democrats are also much more likely to describe themselves as "sympathetic to" or "active in" the environmental movement (81% of Democrats vs. 53% of Republicans), and to give priority status to the environment over both the economy and energy production.

There are only minor differences among major age groups in ratings of the environment, and in the percentages saying they are active in the environmental movement.

Greater differences are seen by gender, with women appearing to be more pro-environment than are men. Women are more likely to worry about the environment, to take a dim view of environmental conditions, to be active in or sympathetic to the environmental movement, and to give precedence to the environment over economic and energy concerns.

The Bottom Line

The environment is not a high salience issue for Americans at this time, and has a low top-of-mind presence when the public is asked about priorities for government. Environmental concern tended to be higher in 1999 and 2000. This was a period of economic prosperity and low energy concerns, and was prior to the terrorist attacks of 2001, which added a new issue for Americans to focus on. Since 9/11, the environment has been overshadowed by anti-terrorism efforts, the war in Iraq, a struggling economy, and rising gas prices. While there has been some increase in Americans' general concern about the environment and awareness of global warming, their willingness to compromise economic growth or energy production in the furtherance of environmental quality has not grown.