A recent poll conducted in the US by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication reports that 72 percent of Americans think that global warming should be a very high (12%), high (28%), or medium (32%) priority for the president and Congress. Even among Republicans a majority think global warming should be a priority.

70 percent of poll respondents say that corporations and industry should be doing more to address global warming.

83 percent of poll respondents think that protecting the environment either improves economic growth and provides new jobs (58%) or has no effect on economic growth or jobs (25%). Only 17 percent think it reduces economic growth and costs jobs.

This is a poll of 1008 adults with a large number of questions on environment and energy policy conducted between March 12 and March 30, 2012. Margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., & Hmielowski, J.D. (2011) Climate change in the American Mind: Public support for climate & energy policies in March 2012. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. http://environment.yale.edu/climate/files/Policy-Support-March-2012.pdf