Three-quarters of Republicans think economy is priority over climate – poll

Almost three-quarters of US Republican voters think the economy should be given priority in domestic policy, even at the risk of ignoring the climate crisis, a new poll found.

The survey, from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist, found that a majority of Americans (53%) think addressing the climate crisis should be given priority.

But 72% of Republicans said otherwise.

June and July were, by many measures, the hottest such months on record. Wildfires are raging across the world, in the US notably in California and Nevada. Smoke from fires in Canada has blotted out the sun on the US east coast this year. Much of the US is threatened by rising seas.

The UN has said the world is “boiling”.

But, the NPR poll showed, the percentage of Republicans who think the economy should be given priority regardless is up 13 points since 2018.

More than half of respondents (56%) said climate change was a major threat. More than two-thirds of Republicans (70%) said it was a minor threat or no threat at all. Among Republicans, 43% said climate change would have no serious impact on their communities.

The Biden…