Florida Climate Resilience Survey - October 2019

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Two-thirds of Floridians Concerned About Climate Change
and Don’t Feel Government is Doing Enough to Address Problem 
Large Majority Favor Teaching About Climate Change in Florida Schools

A majority of Floridians are concerned about the well-being of future generations due to climate change and that Florida state government is not doing enough to address climate change impacts, according to the first-ever Florida Climate Resilience Survey conducted by the Florida Atlantic University Center for Environmental Studies (CES) in FAU’s College of Science, and the Business and Economics Polling Initiative (BEPI) in FAU’s College of Business. The statewide survey shows that 68% of Floridians either agree or strongly agree that climate change has them concerned about the well-being of future generations in Florida. Only 28% said that Florida’s government (state, county and municipal) is already doing enough to address the impacts of climate change.

Highlights

• A majority of respondents support future solar energy production in Florida (51%).
• Almost half of respondents are willing to pay $10 per month to strengthen Florida’s infrastructure (such as bridges, roads, stormwater systems) to weather hazards (47%).
• A majority of respondents are in favor teaching climate change causes, consequences, and solutions in Florida K-12 classrooms (68%).
• More than half of Floridians (56%) state that climate change is real and that it is largely caused by human activity, including 44% of Republicans, and 59% of Independents, and 70% of Democrats.
• Nearly 6 in 10 Floridians (59%) believe their household to be well-prepared for climate hazards, with survival supplies such as food, water, power generator, phone charger and radio.
• Most Floridians are moderately or extremely concerned about hurricanes becoming stronger or more frequent (65%), temperatures rising (61%), and rising sea levels (59%).

Methodology

The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish from October 1 to October 15. The sample consisted of 1,045 Floridians, 18 years of age and older, with a margin of error (credibility interval) of +/- 3.5 percent. The data was collected using an online panel provided by Dynata. Responses for the entire sample were weighted to adjust for gender, race, income, education and region according to latest American Community Survey data. It is important to remember that subsets carry with them higher margins of error, as the sample size is reduced. For more information, survey results, and full cross-tabulations, visit http://www.ces.fau.edu/ces-bepi/ or contact Professor Colin Polsky, Ph.D., at cpolsky@fau.edu.

In the News

• The Invading Sea - Two-thirds of Floridians are concerned about climate change and feel governments aren’t doing enough to address the effects
• The Sun Sentinel - Majority of Floridians recognize climate change as a threat, FAU poll says; Download the PDF. 
• Tampa Bay Times - Majority of Floridians call climate change a threat, FAU poll says
• PRNewswire.com - Two-thirds of Floridians Concerned About Climate Change and Feel Government Isn't Doing Enough to Address Impacts
• WLRN - Majority Of Floridians Recognize Climate Change As A Threat, FAU Poll Says
• Florida Politics (FLAPOL) - Floridians highly concerned about climate change, new poll suggests
• Miami Beach Times -  Two-Thirds of Floridians Concerned About Climate Change According to FAU
• The Sun Sentinel -  Floridians no longer have luxury to pretend climate change isn’t real | Fred Grimm
• Changing Tides Newsletter -  Florida is worried about climate change
• FAU News Desk - Two-thirds of Floridians are concerned about climate change
• Florida Climate Institute News - November 2019 -  Two-thirds of Floridians Concerned About Climate Change and Don't Feel Government is Doing Enough to Address Impacts 
• The Destin Log -  GUEST EDITORIAL: Time for climate action from Florida GOP lawmakers
• The Sun Sentinel - Florida provides perfect backdrop for GOP to offer serious climate action | Editorial
• The Washington Post - The Energy 202: Florida Republicans have added the words 'climate change' to their vocabularies — and to legislation