Story Highlights
- 35% rate environmental quality as excellent or good, the lowest by four points
- Near-record high of 66% think the environment’s quality is worsening
- Majorities prioritize environmental quality over economy and energy supplies
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ assessments of the environment are particularly bleak ahead of Earth Day, as a record-low 35% offer a positive rating of the environment’s quality and two-thirds say it is worsening.
More than three in five U.S. adults, 63%, think the government is not doing enough to protect the environment, and most believe environmental protection should be prioritized over economic growth (58%) and development of U.S. energy sources (57%).
Gallup’s March 2-18 annual Environment poll also finds that of eight specific environmental problems, water pollution and safe drinking water are the most worrisome to Americans.
Sharp partisan differences continue in all of these views of the environment.
Environmental Quality Rating Drops to 35%; Decline Driven by Independents
Americans’ positive rating of the quality of the environment is down eight percentage points since last year to its lowest level since Gallup first asked the question in 2001. Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults now rate it as “excellent” (6%) or “good” (29%). The share now saying the environment’s quality is “poor” has reached a new high of 20%, and 43% think it is “only fair.”
Historically, positive ratings of the environment have been as high as 50% in 2015, while the previous low point was 39% in 2009 and 2022.
The overall decline in positive environmental ratings is driven mostly by independents, whose rating has fallen 10 points since last year, to 34%. Republicans’ rating remains high, at 63%, while Democrats’ current 16% rating is the lowest on record for the group by one point.
Throughout the course of the trend, Republicans’ positive ratings of the environment have far outpaced Democrats’ and independents’. Democrats’ ratings, in particular, have tended to be somewhat more favorable when their party holds the presidency, yet the reading has never risen above 42%. Independents have tracked closely with the national average.
Two-Thirds Say Environment Worsening, Near Record High
Americans are also pessimistic about the trajectory of the environment’s quality, with 66% saying it is getting worse and 27% better. Since 2001, the share saying the environment is getting worse has been higher than those saying it is getting better. The current reading is the highest since its peak of 68% in 2008.
Partisans’ views of whether the environment’s quality is improving or worsening have swung sharply based on the sitting president’s party. The 6% of Democrats who say the environment is getting better is essentially the same as last year’s record-low 5%, and the 60% of Republicans who say the same is likewise similar to the group’s record-high 65% in 2025. Independents’ views have generally been in line with the national average.
Americans Continue to Say U.S. Government Not Doing Enough on Environment
Americans’ long-standing belief that the U.S. government is not doing enough to protect the environment also persists. The current 63% of U.S. adults who say the government is doing too little is the highest level recorded since Gallup’s initial reading in 1992, and it marks a six-point increase from last year. Meanwhile, 27% of U.S. adults say the government is doing about the right amount, and 7% believe it is doing too much.
Throughout the trend, Americans have been most likely to believe the government is doing too little. This sentiment has typically been more pronounced during Republican administrations since 2000 and less so under Democratic presidents.
Democrats have consistently been far more likely than Republicans to say the government is doing too little to protect the environment, while independents have tracked with the national average. The current 91% of Democrats believing too little is being done matches last year’s record high for the party, while Republicans’ 23% is statistically similar to their record-low 22% from last year.
Environmental Protection Prioritized Over Economic Growth, Energy Production
When it comes to their preferences for U.S. environmental policies, 58% of Americans say environmental protection should be prioritized, even at the risk of curbing economic growth, while 34% think the economy should come first.
This prioritization of the environment over the economy has occurred in most years of Gallup measurement since 1984. The exceptions were during the economically challenging years from 2009 through 2013.
Likewise, Americans have expressed a preference in most years since 2001 for protecting the environment, even at the risk of limiting the United States’ production of energy. The latest 57% who prioritize the environment over developing energy supplies such as oil, gas and coal is close to the 59% high recorded in 2016 through 2018. Meanwhile, 36% of U.S. adults favor the development of energy supplies over protecting the environment.
Support for environmental protection is more widespread when energy prices are low and diminishes when prices rise. Amid high gas prices from 2009 to 2013, Americans were more divided and at times leaned toward prioritizing energy development.
Majorities of Democrats and independents prioritize environmental protection over economic growth and developing energy supplies, while majorities of Republicans put economic growth and energy development first.
This pattern of higher Democratic support for environmental protection and higher Republican support for economic growth and energy supplies has persisted throughout the trends.
Water Problems Remain Atop Environmental Worries List
Of eight environmental problems, majorities of Americans say they worry “a great deal” about two — the pollution of drinking water (56%) and maintenance of the nation’s supply of fresh water for household needs (53%). Water pollution has ranked as the top concern since 2001.
Half of U.S. adults express the same degree of worry about the pollution of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Although less than half of Americans currently worry a great deal about the other five issues tested — the environmental impact of artificial intelligence data centers, global warming, the loss of tropical rainforests, air pollution, and the extinction of plant and animal species — majorities still say they worry at least “a fair amount” about each.
Whereas majorities of Democrats worry a great deal about all of the problems except for the extinction of plant and animal species (50%), no more than 38% of Republicans express the same degree of worry about any of them. Independents’ concern is generally similar to the national average.
Bottom Line
As concern about worsening environmental quality remains widespread, a clear majority of Americans continue to say the federal government is falling short in its efforts to protect the environment, reinforcing a long-standing perception that more needs to be done. Most Americans maintain support for environmental safeguards as they continue to prioritize environmental protection over economic growth and energy development.
Water quality problems continue to garner the most concern from the public. But deep partisan divides in views of the environment’s quality, trajectory and most pressing issues complicates policymaking.
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