As we near the 2026 midterm elections, groups such as the Environmental Polling Consortium (EPC) are evaluating where the American public stands in terms of their environmental and climate priorities. The organization pulls together publicly available resources about public sentiment and coalesces them into a one-stop shop. In its end of year report, titled “What We Learned in 2025 & What We’re Planning for 2026,” the EPC came away with several key lessons from the previous year that those working in the environmental space can use to center the public’s wants and needs.
Top of mind for the public? According to a March 2025 poll conducted by Gallup, water pollution tops the list of Americans’ environmental concerns. All in all, 54 percent of Americans polled worry about the pollution of drinking water a great deal, while 26 percent worry about it a fair amount, 13 percent only a little, and seven percent not at all. With about 80 percent of those polled at least fairly worried about the issue, centering discussions of clean and drinking water quality and policy may be a strong tactic to take heading into election season.
Another March 2025 poll, this one conducted by the EPA and the Combined Defense Project, found that 74 percent of voters polled were concerned about the potential consequences of funding cuts performed by the Trump administration. Even more, a June and July survey, conducted by Data for Progress, of about 1,200 registered voters saw 77 percent of respondents place community access to clean air and safe water at the top of their priority lists for the US to address. Also placing high on the priority list was ensuring disaster relief availability (66 percent) and strengthening infrastructure and disaster preparedness (64 percent); for comparison, the bottom two priorities in the poll were “competing with China on domestic energy production” (37 percent) and “growing new industries, like AI data centers and advanced manufacturing” (28 percent).
In 2025, the Trump administration canceled or proposed to cancel nearly $5 billion in water infrastructure funding according to the Water Program Portal’s Outcomes Dashboard. These cancelations impact 1,566 projects nationwide. These cancelations have occurred to seven water programs. The policy areas these programs largely encapsulate are aquatic ecosystems, flooding, and resiliency. 14 programs supporting clean drinking water that amount to $37 billion in funding has still been awarded and does not appear to be under threat of cancelation; most of this funding lies in the State Revolving Loan Funds. On January 5, a bipartisan package was released by Congress that would fully fund Energy and Water Development as well as Interior and Environment appropriations. The package moved forward in the House on January 7 — meaning the body may vote on the bill soon — and is still being evaluated by committee in the Senate.
Notably, four of the seven programs suffering cancelations have environmental justice (EJ) in their titles, while two have resiliency. The Trump administration blatantly targeted justice and equity-related programs. That action principally runs against the current of public opinion, according to the results of a July 2025 poll of voters conducted by EPC. When informed about the principles behind EJ policies, 56 percent of respondents said they believe EJ policies “do more good than harm.” Additionally, a third of voters reported they had heard mostly positive things about EJ, compared to 18 percent who reported hearing mostly negative things.
Public sentiment is a critical barometer for advocates and policymakers to hold in mind as they make moves at the federal and state levels. Priorities shift over time, and centering those long-term public priorities is key to success in the ramp up to the midterm elections.
