On Earth Day, fewer Americans are environmentalists

As the world observes Earth Day, a Gallup poll released Friday found that 42 percent of Americans call themselves environmentalists, down from an average of 76 percent in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The results are based on Gallup's annual Environment poll, conducted March 2-6. When last asked in 2000, 47 percent of Americans were identified as environmentalists, which in turn was down from 63 percent in 1995.

In 1991, one year after Earth Day became a global event celebrated on April 22, a high of 78 percent of Americans described themselves that way.

One reason for the decline is that the environment has become politicized as an issue, especially in terms of the debate over climate change and how to address it, Gallup found.

In 1991, the same high percentage of Republicans and Democrats -- 78 percent -- considered themselves environmentalists. Today, 27 percent of Republicans think of themselves that way, compared with 56 percent of Democrats, a partisan gap of 29 percentage points, Gallup found.

Additionally, far fewer Democrats consider themselves environmentalists today than 25 years ago. So there has been a broader decline in personal environmentalism at the same time that the environment has turned into more of a Democrat than Republican issue, the poll found.

Another possibility for the decline is that the "environmentalist" term may just be less commonly used than it was 25 years ago and may not resonate with Americans as much as it did in the past, Gallup found.

To some degree, too, the term "environmentalism" may be associated with protesters who have taken more radical actions to protect the environment against perceived threats, Gallup said.

When considering trade-offs between protecting the environment and promoting economic growth, Americans are less inclined to prioritize the environment today -- 56 percent to 37 percent -- than they were in 1991 -- a 71 percent to 20 percent, Gallup found. Endi