FACT BRIEF

Do most Americans endorse moving to cleaner energy?

Friday, October 30, 2020

By Austin Tannenbaum

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YES

According to a 2019 Pew Research poll, 77% of Americans (90% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans) agree the country's "most important energy priority" should be developing "alternative energy" rather than increasing fossil-fuel production.

As to which alternative, 92% of respondents favor solar-panel farms and 85% favor wind-turbine farms. Meanwhile, 42% favor more offshore oil and gas production, 38% more hydraulic fracking and 35% more coal mining.

In a 2018 Gallup poll, 73% of Americans said they thought the U.S. should prioritize the development of solar and wind over oil, gas and coal. But only 30% supported a dramatic reduction of fossil fuels over the next two decades.

Support for prioritizing climate-change policies has climbed from 30% in 2008 to 52% in 2020.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Pew Research: US public views on climate and energy

Gallup: Responses on energy, 2018

Pew Research: Increased support for prioritizing policies on the environment, climate change

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.