Environmental Polling Roundup – April 28, 2023
HEADLINES
Global Strategy Group – Voters overwhelmingly support the clean energy transition, including clean energy projects in their own communities; key messaging and language findings include the resonance of “clean energy jobs,” connecting H.R. 1 to Big Oil CEOs, and making sure that “no community is left behind” (Release, Deck)
Data for Progress – Voters see clean energy investments as the most important actions against climate change; in terms of climate impacts, voters are most worried about extreme weather, food shortages, and the cost of living (Article, Topline)
Climate Power + Data for Progress – Voters don’t want Republicans in Congress to roll back clean energy policies, and are particularly angered by rollbacks that would make home energy-efficiency investments more expensive (Memo, Topline)
AP + NORC – Americans say that extreme weather and scientists have the greatest influence on their climate attitudes; most say they’ve been affected by extreme weather in recent years (Release, Topline)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- We should be putting extreme weather front and center when explaining the impacts of climate change. The AP and NORC find that people say extreme weather has more influence on their climate views than any other factor, and Data for Progress finds that people worry about the increased intensity of extreme weather events more than any other specific climate impact. Additionally, Global Strategy Group finds that voters are more likely to agree that climate change is having a serious impact on the country when they are reminded of recent extreme weather events.
- Our messaging against bad energy policy like H.R. 1 is more compelling when we connect it to Big Oil CEOs. Out of several possible arguments against H.R. 1, Global Strategy Group finds that this argument connecting the bill to Big Oil CEOs is the most persuasive and believable: “The plan gives Big Oil CEOs a free pass to make even bigger profits by pumping more toxic pollution into our air and water.”
- We need to move away from the term “natural gas,” as “methane gas” and “fracked gas” are more evocative of its dangers. Global Strategy Group’s new poll is the latest to find that the public reacts positively to the term “natural gas,” but not to alternative terms for it that don’t use the word “natural.” For example, while more voters say that they want to increase than decrease the use of “natural gas” as a fuel source, voters on net say they want to decrease the use of “methane gas.” And out of several possible terms for gas as a fuel source, voters say that they find “fracked gas” to be the least appealing term.
GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT
- [Transmission / Siting] 79% of voters support building new power lines in their community that transmit electricity generated by clean energy [Global Strategy Group]
- [Clean Energy / Siting] 78% of voters support building new solar panel farms in their community [Global Strategy Group]
- [Environment + Economy] 77% of voters agree with this statement: “We don’t have to choose between building our economy and protecting our environment. We can do both.” [Global Strategy Group]
- [Clean Energy / Siting] 73% of voters support building new wind turbines in their community [Global Strategy Group]
- [Climate Change] 72% of Americans recognize that climate change is happening, compared to just 12% who deny it [AP + NORC]
- [Environmental Justice] 72% of voters agree with the statement that “as we move to clean energy, we need to make sure that no community is left behind, including the communities of color that have been harmed the most by pollution from fossil fuels.” [Global Strategy Group]
- [H.R. 1] 71% of voters say they would be upset if Republicans in Congress make it more expensive for American families to make their homes energy-efficient [Climate Power + Data for Progress]
- [Climate Action] 67% of voters agree that the U.S. government should take strong action to combat climate change [Global Strategy Group]
- [Issue Priority] More Americans say that climate/environment is the number one “most important issue” for them than any other issue besides inflation/prices, health care, and the economy/jobs [The Economist + YouGov]
FULL ROUNDUP
Global Strategy Group – Voters overwhelmingly support the clean energy transition, including clean energy projects in their own communities; key messaging and language findings include the resonance of “clean energy jobs,” connecting H.R. 1 to Big Oil CEOs, and making sure that “no community is left behind” (Release, Deck)
This newly released survey by progressive polling firm Global Strategy Group includes a wealth of findings on voters’ climate and environmental attitudes, including important messaging takeaways for advocates.
Some of the language findings from the poll include that:
- Voters react more positively to “clean air and water” regulations and safeguards (83% favorable) than to “environmental” regulations and safeguards (68% favorable)
- Voters feel more positively on net about “zero emission vehicles” (59% favorable / 26% unfavorable, +33 favorable on net) than they do about “electric vehicles” (56% favorable / 36% unfavorable, +20 favorable on net)
- “Clean energy jobs” (76% favorable) appeal to voters more than “green jobs” (62%)
The poll also finds that language about what we are moving toward in the clean energy transition is more compelling than language about what we are moving away from. Voters are 10 points more likely to agree with the statement that “the U.S. should transition toward more clean energy like wind and solar” (73% agree / 20% disagree) than the statement that “the U.S. should transition away from fossil fuels like oil and coal” (63% agree / 28% disagree).
On the topic of energy sources, Global Strategy Group also finds that voters lean toward saying that the U.S. should be using more “natural gas” (39% want more / 12% want less) – but not when we call it “methane gas” (18% want more / 31% want less).
Additionally, when asked to choose the least appealing term for gas as a fuel source, 49% say that they find “fracked gas” to be the least appealing term. This is compared to 25% who say that “methane gas” is the least appealing term for it and 11% who say that “fossil gas” is the least appealing term.
These findings echo what we’ve seen in other research, as research consistently shows that voters react much more negatively to “natural gas” as a fuel source when we take away the word “natural” and use alternative terms for it such as “methane gas.”
The poll also underlines how extreme weather can be potent evidence to demonstrate that climate change is a here-and-now issue. In a split-sample experiment, respondents were randomly assigned to see one of the two statements below and rate their agreement with it:
- “Climate change is already having a serious impact on the country” (66% agree, including 37% who agree strongly)
- “With recent wildfires, drought, flooding, and storms, climate change is already having a serious impact on the country” (70% agree, including 46% who agree strongly)
Compared to the statement that didn’t reference extreme weather events, the statement that mentioned extreme weather was four points more likely to elicit agreement that climate change is having a serious impact on the country (70%, compared to 66% for the statement that didn’t mention extreme weather) and nine points more likely to elicit strong agreement that climate change is having a serious impact on the country (46%, compared to 37% for the statement that didn’t mention extreme weather).
The poll also asked a series of questions around environmental justice, and found that the public still needs a great deal of education to understand how communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution. Less than half of voters agree with the statement that “communities of color have been harmed more than other communities by air and water pollution” (47% agree / 33% disagree).
However, language about the need to make sure that “no community is left behind” in the clean energy transition resonates widely. More than seven in ten voters agree with the statement that “as we move to clean energy, we need to make sure that no community is left behind, including the communities of color that have been harmed the most by pollution from fossil fuels” (72% agree / 15% disagree).
Among the many topical findings in the poll, some of the takeaways about H.R. 1 and IRA implementation are especially interesting.
The poll tested several possible arguments against H.R. 1 and found that the following statement about Big Oil CEOs is both the most concerning argument against H.R. 1 and the most believable: “The plan gives Big Oil CEOs a free pass to make even bigger profits by pumping more toxic pollution into our air and water.”
This finding is consistent with a lot of other environmental polling, which shows that our messages pack more punch when we use corporate polluters like Big Oil as foils.
On IRA implementation, this poll is one of the few we’ve seen that tested support for the siting of new clean energy projects. Encouragingly, the poll finds that voters are generally amenable to the idea of siting new clean energy infrastructure in their communities.
When asked specifically whether they support or oppose various types of projects “in your community,” majorities say they would support each of the following:
- New power lines that transmit electricity generated by clean energy (79% support)
- Solar panel farms (78%)
- Wind turbines (73%)
- Charging stations for zero-emission vehicles (68%)
Data for Progress – Voters see clean energy investments as the most important actions against climate change; in terms of climate impacts, voters are most worried about extreme weather, food shortages, and the cost of living (Article, Topline)
This new poll from Data for Progress probes voters’ underlying attitudes about climate change, including the parties they hold most responsible, the specific kinds of climate impacts they’re concerned about, and the types of climate action that they believe to be most important.
In terms of climate action, “investing in new clean energy projects, including solar and wind farms” (33%) stood out as voters’ top choice when they were asked to choose up to three “most important” actions that the U.S. government could take to address climate change.
The next-most popular options were “planting new forests and prairies” (26%), “investing in advanced energy technologies, like geothermal or advanced nuclear energy” (26%), and “improving the efficiency of the electric grid” (25%). Of the eight other possible options provided in the survey, none were chosen by more than 17% of voters.
When it comes to responsibility, the poll finds that large corporations, fossil fuel companies, and major foreign economies top the list of groups that voters hold most responsible for addressing climate change.
Here are the groups tested in the survey, ranked by the percentage of voters who say that each has a “lot of responsibility” to address climate change:
- Fossil fuel companies – 52%
- Large corporations – 52%
- Other countries, like China and India – 52%
- Federal lawmakers – 45%
- State lawmakers – 42%
- Local lawmakers – 39%
- Yourself – 31%
- Individual people – 31%
- Wall Street – 27%
- Banks, insurers, and financial institutions – 25%
These findings are consistent with a lot of other polling showing that voters widely support holding corporations – especially fossil fuel companies – accountable for addressing climate change.
In terms of specific climate impacts, the poll finds that voters worry the most about extreme weather, global food shortages, and an increase in the cost of living. Those three items came out on top when voters were asked to select up to three climate impacts that they’re most worried about:
- Increased intensity of extreme weather events, like floods and wildfires – 39%
- Global food shortages – 36%
- Increased cost of living – 32%
- Pollution of the natural environment – 28%
- The loss of plant and animal species – 28%
- Global conflicts over water and other resources – 24%
- Public and personal health risks – 23%
- Impacts on jobs and the economy – 21%
- Loss of housing or displacement from housing – 11%
Climate Power + Data for Progress – Voters don’t want the Congressional GOP to roll back clean energy policies, and are particularly angered by rollbacks that would make home energy-efficiency investments more expensive (Memo, Topline)
This new polling on H.R. 1 finds that voters react negatively to the bill’s major provisions – especially measures that would take away home energy-efficiency incentives.
The poll informed voters that “Republican lawmakers in Congress have said they will roll back key components of the clean energy plan passed by Congress that includes provisions to lower energy costs, help create more than 142,000 good paying jobs, and reduce climate-warming pollution.”
In response to this prompt, more voters say that Republicans should not roll back key components of the clean energy plan (47%) than agree that Republicans should roll back key components of the clean energy plan (41%).
The repeal of home energy-efficiency incentives – framed in the poll as “making it more expensive for American families to make their homes energy-efficient” – stands out as the H.R. 1 provision that voters would be most angry about. Just over ten in seven voters (71%) say that they would be “upset” if Republicans in Congress followed through on this provision of the bill.
Additionally, roughly half say that they would be upset if Republicans in Congress “roll back key tax credits and financial incentives for clean energy production and job growth, such as wind and solar power” (51%) or “direct less government funding to the research and development of new American-made clean energy technologies” (48%).
AP + NORC – Americans say that extreme weather and scientists have the greatest influence on their climate attitudes; most say they’ve been affected by extreme weather in recent years (Release, Topline)
Polling by the AP and NORC that was released a few weeks ago showed that extreme weather and scientists stood out as major influences on people’s climate attitudes, and this new AP/NORC data further backs up those findings.
Americans are considerably more likely to say that extreme weather and scientists have had “a great deal” or “a lot” of influence on their climate views than other messengers or factors:
- Recent extreme weather events – 46% “a great deal” or “a lot” of influence
- Scientists – 43%
- My education – 32%
- News coverage of climate issues – 25%
- Advocacy groups or activists – 15%
- Family and friends – 13%
- Political leaders – 11%
- Community organizations – 11%
The poll finds that personal experience with extreme weather is very common, helping to explain why extreme weather is such a powerful influence on people’s climate attitudes. When asked what types of extreme weather have affected them in the last five years, Americans are especially likely to say that they’ve been affected by extreme temperatures:
- Extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves – 55%
- Severe cold weather or severe winter storms – 45%
- Major droughts or water shortages – 30%
- Hurricanes or tropical storms – 24%
- Major flooding – 20%
- Wildfires – 19%
- Tornadoes – 18%
Related Resources
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