Poll: Majority prefers climate change regulations over taxes

The majority of people in the United States would prefer that climate change be addressed through regulations instead of taxes, according to a new survey.

Sixty-four percent of respondents in a Duke University survey said the are “strongly or somewhat” in favor of the government “regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, factories and cars and requiring utilities to generate more power from ‘clean’ low-carbon sources.”

In contrast, only 29 percent backed fighting climate change with taxes on fossil fuels.

"Support for market-based approaches such as a carbon tax and a system of tradable emissions are not popular among survey respondents," said Sarah Adair, study co-author and associate in research at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. 

The Duke researchers said belief in climate change is increasing. Fifty percent of people polled said they are convinced that solid evidence of global warming exists, and 34 percent said that proof “probably exists.”

But views on climate change diverge along party lines.

Only 17 percent of respondents in the poll who identified themselves as Republican said they see the issue as a “very serious” problem, compared with 35 percent of Democrats.