The Climate Movement and the Latest Yale/GMU Poll Results - A Foundation to Grow On

First Take: Findings In Context

This is my first take on a recently released report from the Yale/George Mason Climate Change and the American Mind project discussing findings from polling conducted May 1-12, 2025. These results are compared in the report with findings dating back to 2008.

For the Climate Movement and Climate Action Supporters in the United States these latest findings have some good news. They show that we have:

1. a solid foundation of public support upon which to build;

2. room for growth.

I will be touching on topics and themes related to the Climate Movement and Climate Action Supporters that will be discussed extensively in future posts. (So stay tuned!)

A Solid Foundation

Two things to note concerning who is worried about climate change as reflected in the graph above.

First, we want people to be worried or concerned. Why? Because they should be, given both the threat and the reality of climate consequences.

And what do we offer to those who are worried? Vision-hope and action-hope: how we can overcome climate change by joining together to create the greatest and most long-lasting social change movement in the history of the world where we continuously create collective actions that make a difference.

Second, the current 65% who are “very” (29%) or “somewhat” (36%) worried is consistent with polling going back to 2008. This is a very stable group that is fertile ground for growing Climate Movement Members and Climate Action Supporters. But note, also, that those who are very worried has basically doubled from the early years starting in 2008. These are the folks that could join us more quickly.

As the next graph shows, an even more salient measure of Movement potential is the 12% in the US who have considered moving to avoid climate impacts.

Respondents were also asked whether climate change is “personally important” to them. 64% said yes as the graph below shows.

The final graph below focuses on a respondent’s “personal sense of responsibility” to take action, with 61% saying they “strongly” (18%) or “somewhat” (43%) agree.

These results on personal responsibility are quite encouraging. Our job as the Climate Movement is to help this 61% understand that the most important action they can take is to join the Climate Movement.

To overcome climate change we must all retrain our brains to recognize that personal responsibility does not equate to individual action. Instead, personal responsibility must be channeled into collective action that makes a difference — and the best way to do that is to join the Climate Movement.

When we match up all these results I’ve highlighted we find the following.

• 65% say they are worried, 64% say it is personally important to them, and 61% say they feel personally responsible to take action.

• 12% have considered moving and the same number say it is “extremely important” to them, while an even greater number, 18%, “strongly agree” they have a personal responsibility to take action.

Room For Growth

Given our calling to create the greatest and most long lasting social change movement in the history of the world, we in the Climate Movement can join together to make a contribution that will stand the test of time.

As I will be discussing in future posts, one of the seven characteristics/imperatives/goals of the Climate Movement is to be big and broad and active enough.

As such, we want to have at least 5% of the worldwide population (and that of the US) become a part of the Climate Movement by 2030, representing the breadth of our societies, with a constant stream of actions leading to message saturation and values engagement so that the need for climate action remains at the forefront of everyone’s mind and cannot be suppressed, missed, or ignored.

According to this poll, 12% in the US consider climate change “extremely important” and 18% “strongly agree” they have a personal responsibility for action. This is more than double and triple our 5% goal by 2030! Such respondents are ground zero for Climate Movement recruitment.

Right now we have more than enough support to achieve a 5% goal for Climate Movement Members and we are within striking distance of 80% popular support for action by 2030.

The 60-65% numbers in the US have us within easy striking distance of our goal of at least 80% popular support for action by 2030, made up of Climate Movement Members (5+%) and Climate Action Supporters (75+%).

Those of us in the Climate Movement must help Climate Action Supporters and others understand that the most important way we can take personal responsibility is to join the Climate Movement or participate in collective action. This is because climate pollution is a systemic aggregate problem that, by definition, cannot be solved by an individual. As I will discuss more fully in coming posts, we must forget the “carbon footprint” scam encouraged by Big Producers of Polluting Products, who would like nothing better than to see us plagued by misplaced guilt ineffectually acting on our own.

We must forget the “carbon footprint” scam encouraged by Big Producers of Polluting Products and channel our energy into the Climate Movement and collective action.

So let’s take personal responsibility and rescue ourselves and others from this carbon footprint guilt trap by working together to make hope happen, our future come faster, and our world more just and beautiful. Join us!

New to this Substack? Check out my Intro Series and other First Takes.