For the past decade, Democrats have argued that climate change poses an “existential threat” if not tackled.
In 2019, American climate scientist Michael Mann was asked about the Green New Deal and said what we need is a World War II-like mobilization to deal with climate change.
“Nazi Germany represents a threat to the world, and climate change represents a threat to the world and to humanity. It is the greatest challenge we face,” Mann said.
But in 2025, most voters don’t share that view.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten said messages coming from the left no longer work.
“We’ve been talking about climate change for decades and decades and decades, and the concern about climate change, simply put, hasn’t changed. It’s not reaching the majority of Americans,” Enten said.
Last week, Bill Gates softened his stance on climate change. Mr. Gates intends to abandon traditional apocalyptic narratives and direct resources to focus on humanitarian efforts in areas affected by natural disasters.
This year’s Gallup poll showed that voters’ concern about the “threat of climate change” has declined.
When survey respondents were asked if they were “very concerned about the climate,” Enten revealed that while that number was once high, it is now on the decline.
In 1989, 35% of people were concerned about the environment. In 2000, that number jumped to 40%. In 2020, this percentage increased to 46%. However, by 2025, it had dropped to 40%.
“The bottom line is that the climate change message coming from people who, of course, believe that climate change is real and very worrisome is not actually working with the American people.”
Enten went on to say that climate change is far from the number one thing people are concerned about.
“You don’t have to be a math genius to know that these numbers are not particularly high. The biggest problem facing the United States is climate change. In 2021 it was 3%, in 2023 polls it was 2% on average. And this year (2025) the polling average is 2. 1, 2. It’s very low on the list of priorities,” Enten said.
