SHOULD THE U.S. ACT IF OTHER COUNTRIES DON’T?
One might imagine that some Americans would be reluctant to support U.S. economic compromises to deal with global warming if other nations that emit large amount of greenhouse gasses do not do so, because those countries might gain an economic advantage in competition in the global marketplace.
But few Americans appear to think that way.
Global Warming and Global Action
As shown in the graph below, in 2015, 75% of Americans believed that the U.S. should take action on global warming even if other countries (such as China and India) do less than the U.S. This was an increase from the 67% of Americans who held that belief in 2008.
Question wording: “Do you think the United States should take action on global warming only if other major industrial countries such as China and India agree to do equally effective things, that the United States should take action even if these other countries do less, or that the United States should not take action on this at all?”
American Public Opinion on Global Warming 