Gallup poll: 44% of Americans worry a 'great deal' about environment

April 5 (UPI) -- A Gallup poll released Tuesday shows Americans' environmental concerns have remained at a near two-decade high for the seventh year running.

The environment poll, released annually since 2001, shows 44% of Americans have worried a "great deal" about the quality of their environment.

About 27% of 1,017 adult respondents in the March 1-18 survey said they worry "a fair amount," and 28% said they're "only a little" or "not at all" concerned.

In comparison, Gallup's results from 2001 to 2015 show nearly one-third of Americans said they worried a great deal about the environment. That figure only exceeded 40% in 2001 and 2007.

The results from 2022 showed that substantial worries tend to be higher among Democratic voters whose party has zeroed in on environmental issues like global warming.

Fifty-six percent of Democrats showed heightened concern about the environment compared to 24% of Republicans.

Meanwhile, independents appeared to be nearly as likely as Democrats to express a "great deal" of concern about the environment, the poll found.

Not all Democrats decry climate change, as shown by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin's letter addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The conservative Democrat opposed a proposed rule that would force companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related measures.

The letter came hours after the United Nations released a 3,675-page report on Monday asking countries to choose between "immediate and deep emissions reductions" or potentially devastating climate change consequences.

To stabilize global warming at the Paris Climate Accord's target temperature of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, there would have to be a 43% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 33% reduction in methane, according to the report.

The Gallup poll shows more Americans today -- 18% compared to 9% in 2015 -- describe the environment's quality as "poor."

Fewer respondents rated the environment as either "excellent" or "good," with a drop from 50% in 2015 to 39% in 2022.