The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication released the second report from their latest national survey of the American public. Public Support for Climate & Energy Policies in May 2011 shows that despite political polarization in Washington D.C., public support for a variety of climate change and energy policies remains high, across party lines:

Priority

• 71 percent of Americans say global warming should be a very high (1 3%), high (27%), or medium (31%) priority for the president and Congress, including 50 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of Independents and 88 percent of Democrats.
• 91 percent of Americans say developing sources of clean energy should be a very high (32%), high (35%), or medium (24%) priority for the president and Congress, including 85 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Independents, and 97 percent of Democrats.

Action

•  Majorities of Americans want more action to address global warming from corporations (65%), citizens themselves (63%), the U.S. C ongress (57%), President Obama (54%), as well as their own state and local officials.
• Despite ongoing concerns about the economy, 67 percent of Americans say the U.S. should undertake a large (29%) or medium-scale effort (38%) to reduce global warming, even if it has large or moderate economic costs.
• 82 percent of Americans (including 76% of Republicans, 74% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats) say that protecting the environment either improves economic growth and provides new jobs (56%), or has no effect (26%). Only 18 percent say environmental protection reduces economic growth and costs jobs.
• Large majorities (including Republicans, Independents, and Democrats) say it is important for their own community to take steps to protect the following from global warming: public health (81%), the water supply (80%), agriculture (79%), wildlife (77%), and forests (76%).

Policy Support

• 84 percent of Americans support funding more research into renewable energy sources, including 81 percent of Republicans, 81 percent of Independents, and 90 percent of Democrats.
• 68 percent of Americans support requiring electric utilities to produce at least 20% of their electricity from renewable energy sources, even if it costs the average household an extra $100 a year, including 58 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of Independents, and 82 percent of Democrats.
•  66 percent support expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, up 4 points since June of 2010.
• 47 percent support building more nuclear power plants, down 6 points since June of 2010. Only 33 percent support building a nuclear power plant in their own local area.
• Majorities support local policies, including installing bike lanes on city streets (77%), more public transportation (80%), requiring all new homes to be more energy efficient (71%), changing zoning to promote mixed development (57%), decreasing sprawl (56%), and promoting more energy efficient apartments instead of single family homes (52%).

The report includes both overall results and breakdowns of public support by political party. It can be downloaded here: Public Support for Climate & Energy Policies in May 2011