Senior Republicans are urging Donald Trump to curb his rhetoric on climate change ahead of next year’s election, as evidence emerges that young Republican voters are increasingly persuaded by the science behind climate change. Republicans in Congress and party strategists have told the White House that Mr Trump risks losing votes if he returns to his argument that climate change is a hoax promoted by China to undermine American manufacturing. Francis Rooney, a Republican congressman from Florida, said he had brought up the issue of climate change many times with the White House.
“We’ve done some polling. Even in the very conservative area, I represent, over 70 percent of the people I represent think the government needs to do something about climate change,” he said. Carlos Curbelo, a former Republican congressman who co-founded the House of Representatives’ climate solutions caucus in 2016, said: “For young Republicans this is an issue of science – not a cultural or ideological question which is unfortunately the case for Republicans of older generations.”
Polls suggest that the Republican leadership, which has spent much of the last few weeks campaigning against the Democrats’ “Green New Deal”, is out of touch with younger Republicans’ opinions on this issue. Gallup polls show that about a quarter of Republicans aged 18-34 say they worry a great deal about climate change – double the proportion of party supporters as a whole. A recent letter urging the party to prioritize clean energy and the environment was signed by 41 out of 50 state chairpeople of the College Republican group. Evidence suggests that in coastal communities hit by recent tropical storms, such as the Florida district represented by Mr Rooney, opinion is changing particularly quickly.