Yale Climate Opinion Factsheets: What the Data Reveals About Climate Views

The persistent heat domes smothering the Midwest, along with wildfires across vast swaths of Canada, Spain, and the western United States, have become more likely and more intense due to the effects of climate change. People in different states—or even within the same city—experience these events differently and often come to different conclusions about how serious the problem is and how resources should be invested to address it.

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) conducts research on public opinion and behavior and offers a powerful tool called Climate Opinion Factsheets. These fact sheets show people's beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy preferences related to climate change down to the county and congressional district level.

I spent some time exploring counties across Minnesota and Wisconsin, along with a variety of other locations throughout the country, and found myself mesmerized by the numbers. (Full disclosure: I'm an engineer by training, so numbers have a tendency to mesmerize me.) I wasn't surprised to see differences based on geography—belief in climate change was a little higher here and a little lower there. What did surprise me were the similarities.

Here are a few findings that stood out to me (see the table below for additional results):

• Minnesota as a whole is generally consistent with the national average for climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy preferences.
  

• Washington County, Minnesota, showed higher percentages than the state average in all three categories.
  

• Our neighbors just across the river in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, showed slightly lower belief in global warming and significantly lower levels of concern and support for transitioning to 100% clean energy.
  

• Both Washington County and St. Croix County showed strong support for regulating CO₂ as a pollutant (75% and 72%, respectively).
  

• Although Washington County showed strong belief that global warming is already harming people or will do so in the future, only 42% believe it will harm them personally. It's worth noting that this question asks whether people think climate change will affect them personally—not whether it already is.
  

• There is broad support for funding research into renewable energy and teaching about global warming in schools. These measures scored 70% or higher everywhere I looked across the country. In nearly every location, support for teaching about global warming exceeded belief in global warming itself.
  

• There is relatively little support for drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Even in areas with lower support for transitioning to clean energy, support for drilling hovered around only 40%.
  

• At every location I examined, only 18% to 22% of people reported hearing about global warming in the media at least once a week. Meanwhile, only about 35% said they discuss global warming with family or friends—even in communities where concern about climate change is high.

I could go on and on marveling at the nuances from one location to another. Instead, I'll leave you with this observation: in most places, belief in and concern about global warming are above 50%, yet only about one-third of people talk about it, and only about one-fifth hear about it regularly in the media. At the same time, there is widespread support for researching clean, renewable energy and for teaching about climate change in schools.

So what can we do if we're concerned?

Following the advice of climate scientist Dr. Katherine Hayhoe, one of the most important things we can do is simply talk about climate change. Talk with friends and neighbors. Talk with educators and faith leaders. Talk with your hairdresser—and maybe not your dentist, since their hands are usually full. And don't forget to talk with your elected officials.

If you're interested in taking personal action, I also invite you to join Sustainable Stillwater MN's Clean Energy Challenge. This free resource helps you explore and commit to simple, everyday actions that reduce pollution and support a healthier future.

Selected Results from the YCCC Climate Opinion Map

Topic	Washington County (MN)	Minnesota	U.S. Average	St. Croix County (WI)	Wisconsin
Global warming is happening	73%	70%	69%	69%	66%
Worried about global warming	67%	63%	63%	59%	59%
U.S. economy transition from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050	70%	67%	66%	57%	62%
Prefer to vote for a candidate for public office who supports action on global warming	65%	63%	57%	49%	51%
Discuss global warming with family and friends	38%	36%	35%	34%	33%
Hear about global warming in the media at least once a week	22%	21%	19%	21%	19%

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Written by Clayton Dumcum

Sustainable Stillwater MN Board Member Clayton Dumcum is a Federal Engineering Manager with more than 25 years of experience in energy efficiency, sustainability, and decarbonization. In this blog post, he shares observations from climate opinion data and highlights a valuable resource for understanding how Americans view climate change.