Democrats Struggle with Climate Change Messaging
CNN’s Harry Enten highlighted on Wednesday that the Democratic narrative surrounding climate change isn’t making a significant impact on the American public.
The percentage of people expressing “very concerned” feelings about climate change has not changed since 1989. This suggests that current political messages aren’t effectively resonating. Consequently, Democrats are moving away from emphasizing climate change as it doesn’t seem to rank high on voters’ priority lists.
Enten pointed out, “Concerns about climate change haven’t changed,” adding that these issues aren’t reaching most Americans. He elaborated on statistics: in 1989, 35% of Americans were very worried about climate change. This rose to 40% in 2000 and then 46% in 2020. Yet, projections for 2025 show it will drop back to 40%, which is the same as 2000 and only slightly higher than in 1989.
He remarked, “The bottom line is, the climate change message being pushed by those who acknowledge it is real—very concerning, yet we haven’t made significant progress.” Enten added that only 2% of Americans consider climate change a top priority, a number consistent with polling from 2023 and down from 3% in 2021.
He expressed surprise while reviewing a Gallup poll, noting climate change ranked much lower than many other issues. “It was about the 15th or 20th issue on the list. Very, very low,” Enten stated, emphasizing that this trend has remained steady for over three decades.
In response to shifting priorities, Democrats and media outlets have adjusted their focus towards discussing high energy costs instead of promoting the ambitious Green New Deal. This proposal, intended to achieve net-zero emissions in a decade, was introduced in 2019 by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who also proposed initiatives aimed at upgrading public housing energy efficiency.
While Ocasio-Cortez and her allies emphasize corporate greed as a factor in rising energy prices, other analysts attribute these increases to former President Biden’s extensive environmental policy initiatives. The Biden administration aims to decarbonize the U.S. power sector by 2030 and the overall economy by 2050.
