The faith factor: Can religion help to win support for the environment?

Scientific evidence continues to mount about the dangers posed by our Earth’s rising temperature. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen described climate change as an “existential threat” to members of Congress earlier this year, lamenting that “[w]e have let decades pass in which we have understood that this was a problem and not taken meaningful action.”

Much like other areas of American politics, however, progress with respect to addressing climate change has been stymied by deep partisan divides. The Public Religion Research Institute’s new survey shows that while overall American attitudes about the salience of climate change and opinions about what to do about it remain similar to what they were nearly a decade ago, views on climate have become more deeply polarized among Democrats and Republicans.

In 2014, 23 percent of Americans overall described climate change as a crisis; in 2023, this percentage rose to just 27 percent. Over that same period, Democrats became 10 percentage points more likely to view climate change as a crisis (from 34 percent in 2014 to 44 percent in 2023), while the percentage of Republicans who describe climate change as a crisis fell by half, from an already low 12 percent to 6 percent. Beliefs about the cause of climate change have also become further divided, with the percentage of Democrats who say climate change is the result of human activity increasing from 61 percent to 83 percent since 2013 but falling from 34 percent to 28 percent among Republicans.

At PRRI, we look at political and social issues through the lens of religion. While our new survey also shows that most religious Americans believe that climate change is mostly caused by human activity, there are noticeable differences in views on the cause and support for public policies to combat climate change across different religious traditions.

For instance, among Protestants of color, American Jews, Catholics and white mainline Protestants, a majority acknowledge that climate change is caused by humans. Yet support for this position falls to less than half of Latter-day Saints (48 percent) and just 3 in 10 white Evangelical Protestants.

Most people of faith, however, share a commitment to caring for God’s creation as part of their religious faith, what some religious leaders refer to as “creation care.” 

Our survey asked Americans the extent to which they agree that “living up to our God-given role as stewards to take care of the Earth” is an important reason for protecting the environment. We found that 83 percent of Americans who say that religion is the most important thing in their lives, and 74 percent of those who say that religion is one among many things in their lives, name stewardship as an important reason to protect the Earth.

Support for creation stewardship can be seen across all major religious traditions. Among Christians of color, 80 percent of Black Protestants, 78 percent of Hispanic Catholics and 73 percent of other nonwhite Protestants say that living up to their God-given roles as stewards to take care of the Earth is extremely or very important. For some observers, these findings may not be surprising, given that most people of color identify as Democrats. Moreover, Hispanic Americans and African Americans are more likely to live in communities that experience the front lines of the devastation wrought by climate-induced disasters or are more likely to feel the health effects wrought by environmental issues. 

Indeed, our survey finds that Black Protestants and Latino Catholics have among the highest levels of support for policies that address climate change, including imposing stricter limits on carbon dioxide releases, increasing federal funding for research on renewable energy, taxing corporations’ use of fossil fuels and phasing out gas-powered cars.

But creation care is also strongly embraced by white evangelical Protestants and Latter-day Saints — two of the country’s largest Republican constituencies. Indeed, 80 percent of white evangelicals and 84 percent of Latter-day Saints say that living up to their God-given role as stewards of the Earth is also extremely or very important to them. Yet, these are the groups that tend to have the lowest support for public policies that combat climate change. 

The question then, is how to translate this desire to care for the Earth into action on climate.

Engaging a larger swath of religious actors in the battle to stop climate change will need to involve depoliticizing battles around public policy efforts, with religious leaders in more conservative faith communities taking a more vocal and proactive role on this issue, rooted in their theological beliefs. 

The National Association of Evangelicals spoke out about the need to address the challenges posed by climate change in its 2022 report, “Loving the Least of These,” writing that “promoting stewardship and reconciliation calls us to plan ahead and to use our God-given gifts, abilities and natural resources to care for this world … that includes considering the way our environment is changing.” The LDS Church has also begun taking more public stands to promote environmental activism, particularly in the wake of historic droughts facing Salt Lake City.

Moreover, religious leaders should also emphasize the drastic human cost of climate change. For instance, the National Association of Evangelicals report discusses in great detail how climate change impacts people in poverty, as they are the most vulnerable to environmental disasters, rising sea levels and the costs of adapting to more sustainable lifestyles.

Of course, our survey finds that partisanship and media consumption are strongly related to Americans’ views on whether climate change is man-made, or whether the government should be responsible for regulating carbon emissions or promoting green technology — so there may be limits to appealing to religious Americans who believe climate change is not primarily the result of human activity or is not real. 

Our survey shows, however, that many religious Americans, regardless of party, do care deeply about making the planet healthier.

Melissa Deckman, Ph.D. is CEO of PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture and public policy.