Trump Dismantled Biden’s Climate Agenda, But Americans in These Cities Are Likely to Take Exception
https://climate-crisis-247-bucket.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/07210201/2990617-150x150.jpegWithin a year of taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at making the federal government carbon neutral by the year 2050. The provisions of the order included replacing government vehicles with an all-electric fleet and powering federal buildings with clean energy sources like wind and solar. By the end of his term, President Biden had expanded the scope of his climate agenda by setting a goal of transitioning the entire country to a net-zero carbon emissions economy by 2050.
The Biden administration’s aggressive approach to addressing climate change appears to have been short-lived, however. In the first full month of his administration, President Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, stated that “net-zero 2050 is a sinister goal” – and the actions of the Trump administration reflect that sentiment. Through a flurry of executive orders, President Trump has rolled back many key Biden-era climate policies.
Early in his second term, Trump reopened oil drilling opportunities along the U.S. coast, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, expedited approval processes for oil drilling and coal mining projects, and froze unspent Inflation Reduction Act clean energy funding. While President Trump’s approach to climate policy may be popular with much of his base, a majority of Americans approve of Biden’s net-zero agenda. According to a 2024 survey conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 66.2% of adults in the United States support a complete transition of the U.S. economy from fossil fuels to clean energy sources by 2050. And in cities across the country, net-zero by 2050 is even more popular than it is nationwide.
Using data from the YPCCC report Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2024, Climate Crisis 247 identified the cities where the most people support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050. We ranked metropolitan and micropolitan areas, in ascending order, by the share of the 18 and older population who support a net-zero economy by 2050. Only cities where at least 75% of the adult population support net-zero by 2050 appear on this list. The YPCCC bears no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations of the data presented here.
23. Hilo-Kailua, HI
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.0%
- Adult population in city: 161,232
22. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.0%
- Adult population in city: 1,832,688
21. Gallup, NM
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.1%
- Adult population in city: 51,553
20. Orangeburg, SC
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.2%
- Adult population in city: 65,477
19. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.3%
- Adult population in city: 1,553,780
18. Selma, AL
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.5%
- Adult population in city: 28,598
17. Vineyard Haven, MA
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.5%
- Adult population in city: 17,161
16. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.8%
- Adult population in city: 475,886
15. Ann Arbor, MI
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.8%
- Adult population in city: 300,686
14. Greenville, MS
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.9%
- Adult population in city: 32,550
13. Santa Fe, NM
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 75.9%
- Adult population in city: 129,600
12. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 76.1%
- Adult population in city: 4,906,638
11. Nantucket, MA
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 76.2%
- Adult population in city: 11,358
10. Nogales, AZ
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 76.2%
- Adult population in city: 35,640
9. Trenton-Princeton, NJ
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 76.3%
- Adult population in city: 299,244
8. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 76.3%
- Adult population in city: 3,750,660
7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 76.9%
- Adult population in city: 7,917,876
6. Cleveland, MS
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 77.1%
- Adult population in city: 22,702
5. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 77.1%
- Adult population in city: 1,477,006
4. Taos, NM
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 77.5%
- Adult population in city: 28,979
3. Las Vegas, NM
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 78.4%
- Adult population in city: 26,084
2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 78.9%
- Adult population in city: 19,323,724
1. Clarksdale, MS
- Share of adults who support a complete transition to clean energy by 2050: 79.8%
- Adult population in city: 15,167
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