A new survey conducted this spring by Data for Progress examined voter attitudes toward climate change and its connection to the American Dream. The poll of 1,167 likely voters found that 58 percent believe warming temperatures will impede their ability to achieve or maintain the American Dream over the coming two decades, including 42 percent of Republicans surveyed.
When asked about immediate threats to realizing the American Dream today, voters identified cost of living as the dominant concern, with only 2 percent naming climate change and extreme weather as the central threat. Recent analysis indicates that traditional American Dream benchmarks—home ownership, purchasing a new vehicle, raising children, and other milestones—now require approximately $5.3 million per household.
The disconnect between these figures appears connected to financial impacts of climate change. More than half of survey respondents expressed significant concern that climate change will increase living expenses over the next 20 years. A separate MIT study released earlier this year determined that U.S. families currently pay between $400 and $900 annually due to climate-related effects, including elevated utility bills and insurance costs, with some hard-hit counties experiencing expenses exceeding $1,000 per year.
Regarding climate policy framing, only 6 percent of poll participants characterized such measures as “an expensive burden on working people,” and Republicans similarly rejected that characterization. Instead, respondents most frequently selected “a critical step to protect our environment” to describe their views on climate policies. Climate advocates have emphasized renewable energy affordability ahead of midterm elections, highlighting wind and solar as cost-effective alternatives while criticizing proposed restrictions on offshore wind development and other renewable projects as potentially driving up energy costs for consumers.
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