Nearly three in four Republicans say economy should come before environment: poll

Nearly three in four Republicans said the economy should come before 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 polled said the economy should come first, even at the risk of ignoring climate change — a significantly higher proportion than the 59 percent of Republicans who gave similar answers in 2018 .

A large majority of Democrats, 80 percent, said climate change should be a priority “even at the risk of economic growth slowing” — a number that has remained broadly flat since 2018.

The 13-point rise in Republicans who said they would prioritize the economy drives Americans’ data overall, even as a majority still prioritize climate change.

In the most recent poll, 53 percent of Americans said tackling climate change should be a priority, while 44 percent said economic growth should be a priority. In 2018, 58 percent prioritized climate change and 34 percent prioritized economic growth.

The data collected in the latest survey came despite record-breaking heat waves and environmental disasters that scientists attribute in part to climate change.

“Despite an almost daily stream of extreme weather reports, Americans are increasingly treating climate change as a partisan issue,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in a press release. “Nevertheless, most are concerned, particularly about how climate change is affecting their own communities.”

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Most American respondents said they recognize climate change as a threat. 62 percent said it affects their local communities, 56 percent said climate change is a “major” threat and 55 percent said it was causing “severe” impacts.

Partisan differences still exist in responses to community-specific questions about climate change: 61 percent of Republicans say climate change will not have much or no impact on their communities, 43 percent say it will have no severe impact at all, and 37 percent say , it is a “minor” threat.

The survey was conducted July 24-27 among 1,285 US adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

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