WASHINGTON — As the Democratic National Convention approaches, a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Democrats have slightly higher confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to address the issue of climate change than President Joe Biden.

The poll found that 85% of Democrats have “a lot” or “some” confidence in Harris to address climate change, while about three-quarters say the same about Biden. That’s more true for Democrats under 45: about three-quarters of this group say they have “a lot” or “some” confidence in Harris to handle climate issues, compared to about 6 in 10 who say that about Biden. Older Democrats are more likely than younger ones to trust either Biden or Harris.

The finding is an early indication that Democrats may make distinct assessments of Harris when it comes to key issues, rather than seeing her as interchangeable with Biden on policy, including issues like climate change where many Democrats are concerned and want to see government action. It also reflects broader satisfaction Democrats have with Harris as their party’s standard-bearer, giving her an opportunity to appeal to younger Democrats, who are particularly likely to worry about climate change. Harris faces Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November election.

Aaron Hash, a 43-year-old Democrat and union worker, said he listened to some of Harris’ speeches after Biden dropped out and thought, “those are the right words. I’d like to see action to follow.” He believes the Democratic Party is “still a little behind” compared to the Republican Party when it comes to fighting for important causes, including climate change, access to abortion and gun control.

But Harris, he believes, can change that.

“I feel hopeful that we will see some meaningful protections put back in place,” said Hash, who works in chemical manufacturing in Washington state. “I would like to see Democrats hopefully retain power in that (executive branch) and then take back Congress and pass some protections that were previously protected by Chevron,” referring to the Supreme Court’s recent decisions that reduced the power of the authorities as the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

The problem of climate change is widely recognized by Democrats. The AP-NORC poll found that 9 in 10 Democrats say climate change is happening, and most say the primary cause is human activities. About 7 in 10 Democrats say they have become more concerned about climate change in the past year. And they want to see government action on the issue: About 8 in 10 Democrats say the federal government is doing too little to reduce climate change, compared with about 6 in 10 independents and about 3 in 10 Republicans.

Younger Democrats are particularly likely to feel the emotional weight of climate change. About 6 in 10 Democrats under 45 say “concerned” describes their feelings extremely or very well when considering climate change, compared with about a third of older Democrats. Younger Democrats are also less likely to say they feel motivated or hopeful about climate change. About 7 in 10 younger Democrats say “hopeful” describe their feelings as either “not very” or “not at all” good, compared to 45% of older Democrats.

Alex Campbell, a 29-year-old Democrat in Philadelphia, said there is “a lot of existential dread” among Millennials and Gen Z about what the world will look like in 50 years. Campbell gives Biden credit for adopt the Inflation Reduction Actand he believes Harris would expand those efforts. He hopes that by having a younger Democrat at the top of the ticket, she might care more about the importance of addressing climate change immediately.

But Campbell is pessimistic that Harris, even if elected, can make significant progress on climate change without Democratic control of Congress. Like other Democrats, Campbell worries about the Supreme Court’s role in further eroding environmental protections.

“I would probably have more hope with Harris,” Campbell said. “Because she’s younger, I think she’ll be more aggressive in her policy proposals. But at the end of the day, if there’s no House and Senate that’s going to pass these bills, it doesn’t matter.”

About half of Americans say the outcome of the November presidential election will be extremely or very important to the issue of climate change — and the issue of climate change is particularly resonant for Democrats. About three-quarters of Democrats say the outcome of the 2024 election will matter on climate change, compared with 44% of independents and about 2 in 10 Republicans. Older Democrats are slightly more likely than younger ones to say this election is extremely or very important to climate change.

Nikolas Ostergard, a 21-year-old construction worker in Utah, said he believes Harris is a stronger communicator than Biden is, and he believes that will allow her to make “an even better impact” on issues that matter for the Democrats, including the climate. change. As a Democrat who will contest his first presidential election in November, Ostergard is still waiting to hear Harris articulate his own environmental policy plans. He’s hopeful she “will listen more” to the public than Biden did.

“At first I thought (Harris) wasn’t going to get much better because she was Biden’s vice president. But it seems like she’s taking a different approach, so my hope has increased,” Ostergard said. “My hope for Harris’ policies is better than that was for the Bidens. And definitely far beyond my hopes for Trump’s policies.”

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The survey of 1,143 adults was conducted July 25-29, 2024, using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.