The end-of-cycle buzzer on the matter of anthropogenic climate change is about to go off.
Again, my standard disclaimer: The Earth's climate has always changed, and it always will. Throughout the long, long history of this little blue-white pearl in space, the climate has, overall, been warmer than now. Of all the vast cycles and systems that drive the global climate, human efforts are small cheese indeed. As more and more data comes in, and as we come to understand some of these cycles and systems a little better, the facts are coming out.
Fact is, the extent to which humans can affect the global climate isn't a matter to panic over. Now, some recent polling, reported at CNN, of all places, is showing that American voters just plain aren't very concerned about the climate, even after a long, hot summer.
Despite all the talk of climate change, voters, simply put, don't care.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) August 12, 2026
Climate ranks 14th on list of top issue for the midterm vote (at 3%).
Those who say it's a very big problem is the same as in 2016 (~40%).
Not even a majority agree humans cause any climate change. pic.twitter.com/IQYG9xPYmc
According to Mr. Enten, referring to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll, the top two issues concerning American voters as we slide into the midterm election season are the economy, with 54 percent rating that the top issue, and immigration coming in second, at 28 percent.
Climate change is barely on the chart, with 3 percent calling it the top issue. Mr. Enten says about this:
Look at where climate change is. It's tied for 14th. Tied for 14th. All the way down here at 3 percent, you know, I'm not the greatest mathematician in the world, but I sure as heck know that 54 percent is a whole heck of a lot higher than 3 percent. So despite the climate being so warm in the month of July, the hottest month on record here in the United States of America, the voters simply put, do not say that climate change is going to be an issue that they vote upon in the midterm elections.
Well, look at that. Bear in mind that anthropogenic climate change panic-mongering is mostly a concern of the left, and Mr. Enten may draw some hairy eyebrow looks at CNN for reporting this; but this is news. This is relevant. And the fact is, most Americans just don't care about the bleating of the climate scolds. They are more concerned about their bank accounts. They are more concerned about immigration, although we might note that immigration, particularly illegal immigration, is a high priority for left and right for very different reasons; the right wants illegal immigration stopped, and the left wants to throw the borders open again, as they were from 2021 to 2025.
Most of all, American voters are more concerned about jobs, good-paying jobs, and for a solid economy to deliver those jobs, we have to be a country that has affordable, reliable energy, and we have to be a country that makes things. That means oil and natural gas development and nuclear power; it means factories and the good-paying jobs that come with them.
The climate scolds are against all of these things, and that is now being reflected in the polling.
Read More: Watch Out: Now the Climate Scolds Are Pushing 'Central Control'
Are Democrats Now Caught Between a Socialism Rock and a Climate Change Hard Place?
Of course, there's more to it than just the perceptions of voters from the economic standpoint. A lot of researchers have done a lot of digging into the issue. Climatologists, geologists, physicists, all those and more have been digging into this issue, and the more information that comes to light, the more we see that the panic the scolds are claiming to harbor simply isn't warranted.
Over at Legal Insurrection, Leslie Eastman writes:
I would like to think that the hard work of many good scientists, who have worked hard to provide context into the complexities of climate science and who stress that carbon dioxide is not “toxic” to the environment, has played a large part in the rational assessment of policy priorities of most Americans.
Carbon dioxide, we might note, is presently at a historic low point in the planet's lifespan, and even the moderate increase we're seeing now is already having a greening effect. And much of this is natural. As I've been saying and writing for years, the planet is still recovering from the last major glaciation. It will continue to do so, with some moderate warming, for thousands more years to come, whether we sacrifice our comfortable modern lifestyles or not. Voters are figuring that out.
Eastman continues:
To put it in perspective, our planet is in an interglacial period that represents a relatively warm interval between glacial phases of an ice age, when global temperatures rise over thousands of years. Ice sheets and glaciers retreat, adding water to the oceans and raising sea level. Vegetation zones and ecosystems also shift as conditions warm, cyclically and naturally. Earth is currently in the Holocene interglacial, which began roughly 11,700 years ago.
Researchers now identify 11 interglacial periods in the last 800,000 years, including today’s Holocene. Most of these eras lasted about 10,000–30,000 years. The last four each exceeded roughly 20,000 years, although their most stable warm intervals lasted approximately 10,000–15,000 years.
These are facts. Facts matter. Facts always come through in the end. And this issue, the panic over human-caused climate change, is succumbing to the facts, and voters are recognizing that.
