As the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress vigorously work to reverse President Biden’s energy policies aimed at climate change, advocates for climate change theory seem to be employing increasingly intense strategies to sway public opinion.
However, CNN’s polling analyst, Harry Enten, argues that these tactics haven’t had the desired effect. He notes that the messaging surrounding climate alarmism has been present in American discourse for over 25 years but has not shifted public sentiment much since 2000.
During his appearance on CNN’s News Central, hosted by John Berman, Enten highlighted that only 40% of Americans now express fear regarding climate change, the same percentage as in 2000.
This raises the question of how much has been spent on climate crisis messaging since then. Steve Miroy, who runs junkscience.org, queried X’s AI tool Grok 3 about the estimated cost of pro-global warming media since 2000. The response was approximately $722 billion, an amount that seems low considering how dominant the climate change narrative is in legacy media.
Enten’s report reflects this loyalty to the narrative, revealing that despite ongoing weather-related media coverage, fewer Americans are feeling directly affected. “In 2006, 38% of people sometimes worried about natural disasters; now it’s down to 32%,” he said.
Interestingly, only 17% of adults are concerned about potential large-scale disasters, with a slightly higher figure among Democrats, at 27%.
Though Enten and Berman seemed surprised by these findings, Enten acknowledged that climate concerns don’t seem to significantly influence electoral politics.
This sentiment helps explain why President Trump and his Cabinet feel unrestrained in shifting away from the idea of transitioning to renewable energy sources and electric vehicles. One notable measure includes eliminating subsidies for alternative energy technologies.
It’s essential to realize that essentially rolling back Biden’s climate and energy policies goes beyond simply reversing them. The EPA, under Lee Zeldin, is focused on undoing regulations established in 2010 related to greenhouse gases that formed the backbone of Obama’s climate agenda.
If this plan withstands potential legal challenges, Trump’s efforts might gain momentum. A Supreme Court decision last year bolstered the likelihood of significant changes, potentially erasing the legacy of both Obama and Biden by 2028.
The underlying truth is that the proportion of voters expressing significant concern about climate issues is minimal, allowing Trump and Congressional Republicans to pursue these policy changes without fearing political backlash. Unless polling drastically shifts, the current policy trajectory is likely to remain unchanged.
