Ellen Knickmeyer, Emily Swanson and Nathan Ellgren | The Associated Press

October 26, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden heads to a vital U.N. climate summit at a time when a majority of Americans regard the deteriorating climate as a problem of high importance to them, an increase from just a few years ago.

About 6 out of 10 Americans also believe that the pace of global warming is speeding up, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

As Biden struggles to pass significant climate legislation at home ahead of next week’s U.N. climate summit, the new AP-NORC/EPIC poll also shows that 55% of Americans want Congress to pass a bill to ensure that more of the nation’s electricity comes from clean energy and less from climate-damaging coal and natural gas.

Only 16% of Americans oppose such a measure for electricity from cleaner energy. A similar measure initially was one of the most important parts of climate legislation that Biden has before Congress. But Biden’s proposal to reward utilities with clean energy sources and penalize those without ran into objections from a coal-state senator, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, leaving fellow Democrats scrambling to come up with other ways to slash pollution from burning fossil fuels.

For some of the Americans watching, it’s an exasperating delay in dealing with an urgent problem.

“If you follow science, the signs are here,” said Nancy Reilly, a Democrat in Missouri who’s retired after 40 years as a retail manager, and worries for her children as the climate deteriorates. “It’s already here. And what was the first thing they start watering down to get this bill through? Climate change.”

“It’s just maddening,” Reilly said. “I understand why, I do — I get the politics of it. I’m sick of the politics of it.”

After President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord, the Biden administration hoped to help negotiate major emissions cuts globally to slow the rise of temperatures. But it’s unclear whether Biden will be able to get any significant climate legislation through Congress before the U.N. summit starts Sunday.

In all, 59% of Americans said the Earth’s warming is very or extremely important to them as an issue, up from 49% in 2018. Fifty-four percent of Americans cited scientists’ voices as having a large amount of influence on their views about climate change, and nearly as many, 51%, said their views were influenced by recent extreme weather events like hurricanes, deadly heat spells, wildfires and other natural disasters around the world.

Over the last 60 years, the pollution pumped out by gasoline and diesel engines, power plants and other sources has changed the climate and warmed the Earth by 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit, making the extremes of weather more extreme.

In east Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, leaf-peeper websites this year are advising fall foliage tourists that leaves are taking days longer than normal to turn from green to fiery orange and red. It’s not evidence of climate change as a one-off instance, but typical of the changes Americans are seeing as the Earth heats up.

“Normally you get the four seasons, fall, spring, and winter, and it goes in that way. But lately, it’s not been that,” said Jeremy Wilson, a 42-year-old who votes independent and works the grounds at a scenic chairlift park that runs people up to the top of the Smoky Mountains. “It’s been either way hotter, or way colder.”

Seventy-five percent of Americans believe that climate change is happening, while 10% believe that it is not, the poll found. Another 15% are unsure.

Among those who say it is happening, 54% say that it’s caused mostly or entirely by human activities compared to just 14% who think — incorrectly, scientists say — that it’s caused mainly by natural changes in the environment. Another 32% of Americans believe it’s a mix of human and natural factors.

And while Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say climate change is happening, majorities of both parties agree that it is. That breaks down to 89% of Democrats and and 57% of Republicans.

The poll also gauged Americans’ willingness to pay for the cost of cutting climate-wrecking pollution as well as mitigating its consequences.

Fifty-two percent said they would support a $1 a month carbon fee on their energy bill to fight climate change, but support dwindles as the fee increases.

“I would say, like 5, 10 dollars, as long as it’s really being used for what it should be,” said Krystal Chivington, a 46-year-old Republican in Delaware who credits her 17-year-old daughter for reviving her own passion for fighting climate change and pollution.

It’s not ordinary consumers who should bear the brunt of paying to stave off the worst scenarios of climate change, said Mark Sembach, a 59-year-old Montana Democrat who works in environmental remediation.

“I think it needs to fall a great deal on responsible corporations that’s — and unfortunately … most corporations aren’t responsible,” Sembach said. “And I think there needs to be a lot of pushback as to who ultimately pays for that.”

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The AP-NORC poll of 5,468 adults was conducted Sept. 8-24 using a combined sample of interviews from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population, and interviews from opt-in online panels. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points. The AmeriSpeak panel is recruited randomly using address-based sampling methods, and respondents later were interviewed online or by phone.

Kevin Frank and Hannah Fingerhut | The Associated Press

October 28, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden and Democrats try to get a roughly $1.75 trillion package over the finish line, a new poll shows that fewer than half of Americans approve of how they have handled the spending bill. And many say they know little to nothing about it.

It’s a troubling sign for a party that hopes to make the social spending investments the hallmark of their midterm election campaigns next year.

The new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 36% of Americans say they approve of Biden’s handling of the negotiations over the bill, while 41% disapprove and 23% say they neither approve nor disapprove. Fewer than half say they know a lot or some about the proposals.

“I don’t place all the blame on him, but I think that, as a president, as a commander-in-chief, I think he could be doing a lot more to get people on board with his plan,” said Gary Hines, 65, a Democratic voter from Philadelphia who emphasized he supports the various elements of Biden’s plan, from expanding the number of people with health insurance, to making child care more affordable, to doing more to curb climate change.

The findings come at a pivotal moment for Biden and his party. Compared with his spending bill efforts, Americans are more positive about his job performance overall, with 48% approving. Still, 51% disapprove. That split is similar to last month but a notable slump from earlier this year.

The new poll also gives Biden his first underwater approval rating for his handling of the economy and shows increasing pessimism about the direction of the country.

Still, the poll shows ratings of Republicans’ role in the situation are even worse. Just 18% percent approve of how Republicans in Congress are handling negotiations over the spending package, while 49% disapprove. Republicans, who have been shut out from the talks over the bill, are expected to overwhelmingly, if not unanimously, oppose the Democratic package.

Democrats have pared back Biden’s plans at the insistence of Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Still, they are struggling to reach agreement on a smaller set of priorities and a means to pay for them. The White House unveiled a long-awaited framework of an agreement Thursday morning, though it was unclear when legislation would be ready or when a vote would occur.

Kristopher Bennefield, 39, of San Augustine, Texas, voiced frustration with Democrats “being so indecisive among themselves.” And he said Biden bears responsibility, because “if he can’t get his own party to do anything, how can he really do anything else?”

“He has great ideas, but he’s having poor follow-through,” said Bennefield, who described himself as an independent.

Meanwhile, some Americans skeptical of the effort remain so.

“I don’t think we can afford it,” said Greg Holman, 59, of Grants Pass, Ore., who is hoping for what he described as a “red wave” in next year’s mid-term elections.

“It’s ridiculous to turn the country into a socialist nation where the government is doing everything for the people,” said James Solar, 78, of Houston. “The point is, these programs are not free.”

Despite concerns about the progress being made on the spending package, or the lack thereof, most Americans support several of the broad priorities of the plan. The poll shows majorities say funding for health care and education programs should be high priorities, and close to half say the same about programs that address climate change.

Fewer say funding for child care (40%) or paid family leave (27%) should be high priorities, but majorities say they should at least be moderate priorities.

Biden has originally called for up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, allowing workers to get their wages partially replaced in the event of a new child or to care for a seriously ill loved one. But the paid leave program was not included in the framework unveiled by the White House on Thursday.

Ryan Guyer, 40, of Flagstaff, Ariz., views health care, child care and climate change as high priorities. He said he’s not against paid family leave and believes it can provide important dividends. Still, he called it a moderate priority because most people have gotten by for a long time without it and he wonders if it “can be kicked down the road again.”

As negotiations drag on, Biden’s standing with the public has declined, but other factors may also play a role, from the military’s difficult withdrawal from Afghanistan to rising prices for groceries, gas and other basics.

For the first time in AP-NORC polling, Biden also earns negative marks for his handling of the economy, with 58% disapproving and 41% approving. That’s even more negative than last month, when Americans were closely divided. In March, 60% approved of Biden on the economy.

Only about a third of Americans say the nation is headed in the right direction, similar to last month, but a decline from earlier this year. When Biden took office and in the early months of his presidency, roughly half said the nation was on the right track.

And just 26% think the way things are going in the country will improve in the next year, down from 43% in February. Now, 48% say things will worsen in the year ahead.

Guyer, a Democrat, believes the country is on the right track.

“The thing I’m most concerned about is the polarization of our country, but I think a lot of the pandemic issues over the last year, including the supply chains, including people getting back to work, I think those are going in the right direction,” Guyer said.

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,083 adults was conducted Oct. 21-25 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Lindsay Whitehurst and Terry Tang | The Associated Press

October 29, 2021

PHOENIX (AP) — Witches and warlocks, ghosts and ghouls can breathe a little easier this year: Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are generally on the decline, and trick-or-treaters can feel safer collecting candy.

And while a new poll indicates Halloween participation is rebounding but still short of pre-pandemic levels, an industry trade group says people who are celebrating are driving record-level spooky spending this year.

Sales of candy, costumes and décor are up at least 25% over last year and are predicted to set a new high, between $10 to $11 billion, said Aneisha McMillan, spokeswoman for the trade group Halloween and Costume Association.

“People are really getting the Halloween spirit,” she said.

Though the pandemic is still a worry, outdoor activities like trick-or-treating have gotten the thumbs up from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts advise people to keep sanitizer and masks handy and continue to steer clear of crowded, poorly ventilated spaces, however.

Angela Montierth of Sandy, Utah, said watching her 4-year-old daughter, Justina, celebrate Halloween this year has been “magical.” The family didn’t do much for the holiday in 2020 besides putting out candy for trick-or-treaters, so this fall they’ve been trying to make up for it.

“We did a pumpkin patch and we had a little Halloween get-together at our house with other little kids,” Montierth said at a trick-or-treat event at Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum in nearby Salt Lake City. “At this age they need to be playing with other kids, and they need the socialization aspect.”

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 35% of Americans plan to hand out candy this Halloween, down from 42% in pre-pandemic 2019 — but still higher than the 25% mark seen in a separate NORC survey in 2020.

Meanwhile 16% said they intend to take their kids trick-or-treating, compared with 25% in 2019 and 12% last year.

Among those skipping the door-knocking again this year is Rolando Cadillo of Phoenix, whose family includes a 15-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son. Last year they opted for a pandemic-safe Halloween at home and skipped giving out candy. This year they are stocking the sweet stuff but keeping the face masks on.

Cadillo’s son will dress up as Spider-Man but won’t be trick-or-treating, and he’s on the fence about whether to let his daughter go with her friends.

“We plan to stay home, but we’re going to give candies to the kids that knock on the door,” Cadillo said as the family left a Halloween Spirit costume store. “I think it’s better than last year. More people got vaccinated.”

Nearly 191 million people in the United States are fully inoculated against COVID-19, about 58% of the population. The country is on the verge of expanding its vaccination effort to children aged 5 to 11, but that won’t come until after Halloween pending final approval from the CDC.

Last year Halloween arrived as cases rose to about 81,000 a day around the country in the start of what ended up being a deadly winter surge. Many parades, parties and haunted houses were canceled due to bans on large gatherings and concerns that celebrations would spread the coronavirus. Others went ahead but with pandemic wrinkles and, at times, a nod to the nation’s penchant for turning to fear as entertainment in times of turmoil.

Today infections are on a downward swing in the U.S., currently averaging about 73,000 new cases per day compared with 173,000 in mid-September.

Concerns still remain, especially where rural hospitals remain strained. Also in the Phoenix area, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has banned Halloween activities after a 140% jump in cases.

But in many places, people are ready for a holiday weekend full of festivities.

In Denver, families visited Union Station for a trick-or-treat parade, a face-painting station, a DJ playing Halloween tunes and a children’s train ride. A dad dressed as a chef carrying a tiny baby dressed as an ice cream sundae led his cupcake children through the halls, collecting candy as “Monster Mash” played in the background.

Sara Castiglione and her 5-year-old daughter, Emma, were back in the swing of Halloween this year. After hitting the parade on Thursday, Castiglione said their weekend plans include a pumpkin patch and more trick-or-treating.

Last year Emma “was very disappointed and sad that she wasn’t able to do anything because of coronavirus,” Castiglione said. “She even said today, ‘I’m so glad we can go outside and I don’t have to wear a mask and we get to do something. I don’t even care (about) dressing up, I just wanna do something!’”

Among the costume set, classics remain hot-sellers this year with Google search trends indicating witches, rabbits and dinosaurs are in the top spots. More contemporary get-ups inspired by the likes of the South Korean Netflix smash “Squid Game” and “WandaVision,” the hit Marvel series, are also popular, McMillan said. There are even a few topical offerings, like a couples costume of a vaccine and syringe, she said.

But the surge of enthusiasm means there have also been some costume shortages attributed to retailers’ uncertainty in placing orders combined with the supply-chain issues bedeviling many parts of the economy.

“A lot of people are getting really creative because they can’t find the singular costumes they wanted. They’re doing group costumes, or couples costumes, so they can kind of mix and match and pull things together,” McMillan said.

Some trends have shifted since last year, with fewer people choosing first-responder and superhero costumes and more leaning toward pop culture and nostalgia.

“This is the millennials’ absolute favorite holiday, and they are notoriously nostalgic,” McMillan said. “We’ve all been cooped up for so long. … I think it’s gonna be the biggest celebration ever.”

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,083 adults was conducted Oct. 21-25 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Whitehurst reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writers Sophia Eppolito in Salt Lake City and Patty Nieberg in Denver contributed to this report. Eppolito and Nieberg are corps members of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Ken Sweet and Emily Swanson | The Associated Press

November 1, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Americans’ opinions on the U.S. economy have soured noticeably in the past month, a new poll finds, with nearly half expecting economic conditions to worsen in the next year.

Just 35% of Americans now call the national economy good, while 65% call it poor, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s a dip since September, when 45% of Americans called the economy good, and a return to about where views of the nation’s economy stood in January and February, when the pandemic was raging across the nation.

The deterioration in Americans’ economic sentiments comes as the cost of goods is rising nationwide, particularly gas prices, and bottlenecks in the global supply chain have made purchasing everything from furniture to automobiles more difficult. The Labor Department reported earlier this month that consumer prices in September rose 5.4% from a year earlier, the largest one-year increase since 2008.

Nadine Christian, 56, said she’s been concerned about the rising cost of living the past year.

“I grew up in the 1970s and I remember it was hard for my parents to make ends meet,” Christian said, referring to the last time the U.S. economy was severely impacted by high inflation. “It’s not quite as bad as it was back then but I feel like any day we could go off the rails.”

Roughly half of Americans — 47% — now say they expect the economy to get worse in the next year, compared with just 30% who think it will get better. In an AP-NORC poll conducted in February and March, the situation was reversed: 44% expected the economy to get better in the year ahead and just 32% said it would get worse.

Earlier this year, 70% of Democrats said they expected the economy to get better. Now, just 51% do. And the share of Republicans who think the economy will get even worse has grown to 74% from 59% earlier in the year.

Joseph Binkley, 34, from Indiana, said he’s worried about inflation but thinks the problems in the economy are temporary.

“I think it’s mostly a supply-demand issue, as the economy is improving,” he said.

Binkley said he supports President Biden’s economic policies.

“A lot of the first years of a presidency is dealing with the predecessor’s policies. I think Biden is having to work through the problems of the previous administration.”

The AP-NORC poll shows a majority of Americans are critical of Biden’s handling of the economy, with 58% saying they disapprove and 41% saying they approve.

Despite the deterioration in Americans’ economic outlooks, the poll found they remain relatively optimistic about their own financial situations. The poll found that 65% of Americans say their personal financial situation is good, a number that has remained about constant since before the pandemic began. Still, 24% say they think their personal finances will get worse in the next year, up from 13% earlier this year.

The poll also shows signs that the pandemic has helped improve workers’ bargaining power: 36% of Americans are very or extremely confident that they could find a good job if they wanted to. In March of 2020, 25% said that, and in June of 2019, 30% said so. Another 35% say they’re at least somewhat confident.

About half of Americans, 49%, now say they’re highly confident they could pay an unexpected bill of $1,000, up from 36% in March of 2020 and 40% in June of 2019.

Economic inequalities between Black and Hispanic Americans compared to their white counterparts remain, however. White Americans are much more likely than Black or Hispanic Americans to be highly confident in their ability to pay an unexpected bill or medical expense.

For businesses, the supply chain issues have dampened economic forecasts. Dozens of large companies have said it’s been hard to find basic goods for manufacturing, like raw materials and semiconductors.

“Companies keep telling me, ‘If I could just get the materials, my business would grow significantly,’” said Steve Steinour, CEO of Huntington Bancshares, a large regional bank chain found primarily in the Midwest.

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,083 adults was conducted Oct. 21-25 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Swanson reported from Washington.

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This story has been updated to correct Nadine Christian’s age. It’s 56, not 55.