PHILADELPHA Theres a generational divide between older and younger Republicans when it comes to climate change, but overall, most Americans agree that the science and the problem are real, according to a national Pew survey released Monday.
Almost two-thirds of all Americans say the federal government isnt doing enough to address climate change and want it to focus on developing renewable energy sources, according to Pew. That might not be surprising since polls have been trending that way for years.
But digging deeper into the survey of more than 3,627 nationally representative panelists in October shows an age divide between millennials and Generation Z Republicans and their Generation X and baby boomer counterparts.
About 52% of Republicans between the ages of 18 to 38 say the government is doing too little on climate. Meanwhile, 41% of their elders believe so.
Theres also a gender divide, with more Republican women than men saying the government is not doing enough.
Those divisions persist on protecting water and air quality, with younger people and women within the party more supportive of regulatory efforts. The report comes at a time when the Trump administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are aggressively seeking to roll back protections put in place during the Obama administration.
Cari Funk, director of science and society research at Pew, was cautious about drawing conclusions on long term trends, but said the findings are similar to those found last year. Pew has migrated away from telephone interviews to an Internet-based survey. So it is not comparing results of survey years prior to 2018.
We noticed this difference about a year ago, Funk said of a generational split.
Funk noted Democrats are consistent in an overwhelming belief in climate change, that its caused by humans and that government isnt doing enough. That belief is consistent among all ages and both genders.
Its only within the GOP that the split occurs.
Its not brand new, but its certainly a more recent phenomenon, Funk said.
Funk emphasized that beliefs of younger Republicans, however, dont align with their Democratic age cohorts.
We dont want to overstate the differences, Funk said. Millennials and Gen Z Republicans dont look like Democrats on these issues, but they dont look like the older generation (of Republicans) either.
For example, Democrats tend to believe that climate policies do more good than harm for the environment. But Millennial and Gen Z Republicans are still skeptical about government. Only 40% believe climate policies do more good than harm.
The cause of climate change continues to be a partisan issue. Older Republicans in particular attribute the problem to natural, not man made, causes.
