Poll: Most in US want more action on climate change
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) — Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the federal government is not doing enough to fight climate change, according to a new poll that shows limited public awareness about a sweeping new law that commits the US to its largest-ever investment to combat global warming.
Democrats in Congress approved the Inflation Reduction Act in August, handing President Joe Biden a hard-fought triumph on priorities that his party hopes will bolster prospects for keeping their House and Senate majorities in November’s elections.
Biden and Democratic lawmakers have touted the new law as a milestone achievement leading into the midterm elections, and environmental groups have spent millions to boost the measure in battleground states. Yet the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 61 per cent of US adults say they know little to nothing about it.
While the law was widely heralded as the largest investment in climate spending in history, 49 per cent of Americans say it won’t make much of a difference on climate change, 33 per cent say it will help and 14 per cent think it will do more to hurt it.
The measure, which passed without a single Republican vote in either chamber, offers nearly $375 billion in incentives to accelerate expansion of clean energy such as wind and solar power, speeding the transition away from fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas that largely cause climate change.
Combined with spending by states and the private sector, the law could help shrink US carbon emissions by about two-fifths by 2030 and chop emissions from electricity by as much as 80 per cent, advocates say.
On renewable energy, nearly two-thirds of US adults say offshore wind farms should be expanded, and about six in 10 say solar panel farms should be expanded. Biden has moved to expand offshore wind and solar power as president.
Americans are divided on offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. Around a third say such drilling should be expanded, while about as many say it should be reduced; another third say neither.
