Seven sequenced surveys conducted by Florida Atlantic University researchers since October 2019 paint a comprehensive picture of Floridians’ climate resilience attitudes during a time of particularly dynamic political, economic and environmental events.
Climate change seems to have become an ongoing, cross-cutting issue that, at least in Florida, has grown in prominence despite an explosive series of other events competing for public attention.
Belief in climate change among Florida adults has soared to more than 90%, including 84% of self-identified Republicans, according to a new analysis of the seven sequenced surveys. This seemingly nascent consensus may explain government actions today and in the years to come. For example, Florida’s Republican governor and legislature voted over $400 million in funding for climate-related mitigation and resilience in 2022. It’s unclear whether public opinion is driving such actions, or vice versa.
For example, the 62% of Floridians (51% of Republicans) who today support increasing the state’s solar power generation appear to have seen a large increase from previous surveys. Behind this spike is a noticeable convergence in public opinion across income groups: in previous FAU surveys, analysis of responses to the solar power question by income revealed a spread of 10 to 20 percentage points, whereas now that range is only around five points.
Other important questions in the survey show more stability over time, but like the question on solar power, they show surprisingly widespread support. For example, 71% of Floridians (57% of Republicans) now approve of teaching climate change science in K-12 classrooms, and 42% (40% of Republicans) are willing to pay a tax. of additional infrastructure by $10 per month to reduce climate change. repercussions. Those Florida levels belie the sharp partisan divide seen elsewhere.
Nationally, for example, less than half of Republicans polled believe in climate change and less than a third believe in a human cause, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. The corresponding Florida figures seen in this survey are 58% and 38%, respectively.
“At least in Florida, climate change may no longer be an effective campaign issue for the upcoming November election and beyond,” said Colin Polsky, Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, FAU. Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.
During the seven-survey period, public opinion on climate change was likely shaped by the Trump administration’s decision in 2017 to withdraw the United States from the United Nations’ 2015 Paris Climate Accord. United. Similarly, the public significance of climate change has likely diminished in response to the sudden 2020 society-wide upheaval related to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crises.
“More recently, climate change has been in the public spotlight this year more than ever before,” Polsky said. “Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, officials around the world have struggled to supply energy markets without breaking commitments to reduce fossil fuel consumption.”
In August, the US Congress passed the biggest national bill ever (the Inflation Reduction Act) to spur action on climate change. In late September, nearly all of Florida’s 20 million people had to prepare for a rapidly developing and ultimately devastating Hurricane Ian, which eventually made landfall as a Category 5 storm. Hurricane Ian could be the costliest storm ever seen in Florida with estimated insured losses of $47 billion, according to CoreLogic.
“Florida could be the first domino to fall of Republican-led states taking robust climate action despite the National Party’s aloofness from the climate issue,” Polsky said. “Inspection of the upcoming November election and exit polls, and beyond, will test this hypothesis, both in Florida and nationally.”
