Donald Trump’s belief that climate change is not a man-made phenomenon might break with the overwhelming majority of scientists.
But Trump has company among his party’s voters, according to a new survey released Tuesday.
The findings from Pew Research Center highlight a wide split between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to climate change. Only 16% of conservative Republicans and 13% of moderate Republicans say that “almost all climate scientists” agree that human behavior is mostly responsible for climate change, compared with 55% of liberal Democrats and 29% of moderate Democrats.
Eleven percent of conservative Republicans and 19% of moderate Republicans say that scientists understand the causes of climate change “very well,” much lower than the 54% of liberal Democrats and 28% of moderate Democrats who do hold that view.
Pew’s findings also showed suspicion among Republicans toward scientists. Only 15% of conservative Republicans said climate scientists can be trusted “a lot” to give full and accurate information on causes of climate change, while 32% of moderate Republicans said they could be trusted. Seventy percent of liberal Democrats said that scientists can be trusted, along with 45% of moderate Democrats.
Trump’s position on climate change came into focus last week when his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said the candidate believes it is a “naturally occurring” phenomenon.
“There are shifts naturally occurring,” Conway said on CNN.
Studies have shown that around 97% of climate scientists believe climate change is likely a result of human activities.