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The full text of this study is available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

This study includes up-to-date trends and opinions on the party best able to handle environmental issues, the environment as a voting issue, recent presidential administrations and environmental policy, and views on the importance, causes, and potential that can be taken regarding global warming.

Among the highlights of this AEI Public Opinion Study:

• President Obama continues to receive high marks on the environment, although his numbers have fallen somewhat since his presidency began. In an April 2010 AP/Gfk poll, 50 percent approved his handling of the issue.

• In a March 2010 Gallup poll, 48 percent said the quality of the environment nationally is getting worse. In 2008, 68 percent gave that response.

• When the Pew Research Center updated its yearly poll on priorities for the president and Congress in January 2010, 28 percent said global warming should be a top priority. For the second year in a row, it ranked last of the twenty-one issues Pew asked about.

• In a March 2010 Gallup poll, 48 percent said that what was said about global warming in the news was generally exaggerated. This was the highest response given since the question was first asked in 1997.

• In the first time since the question was initially asked in 1984, more respondents told Gallup that they would prioritize economic growth over the environment "even if the environment suffers to some extent."

Karlyn Bowman is a senior fellow at AEI. Andrew Rugg is a research assistant at AEI.