Environmental Polling Roundup – March 25th, 2022
HEADLINES
- Climate Power + Data for Progress – Amid the current energy crisis, voters want more clean energy production and more accountability for fossil fuel companies (Release, Topline)
- POLITICO + Morning Consult – Voters are open to increasing domestic oil production, despite half supporting the declaration of climate change as a “national emergency” (Topline, Crosstabs)
- Walton Family Foundation + Morning ConsultVoters are more inclined to support political candidates whose environmental platforms include a focus on water-related issues like drought and flooding (Release, National Topline, AZ Topline, CO Topline)
GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT
- 73% of voters support ramping up production of clean energy, such as solar and wind power, in order to help keep energy prices under control and weaken Russia’s oil- and gas-dependent economy [Climate Power + Data for Progress]
- 73% of voters agree that they “wish corporations would do more to address environmental and climate change problems” [Walton Family Foundation + Morning Consult]
- 70% of voters agree that climate change will have “dire consequences” if it isn’t addressed [Walton Family Foundation + Morning Consult]
- 69% of voters support the federal government making investments to increase clean energy production in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine [Climate Power + Data for Progress]
- 67% of voters agree that “we need stricter regulations in place to limit the impacts of climate change” [Walton Family Foundation + Morning Consult]
- 67% of voters agree that “climate change is having devastating effects on the world’s water resources” [Walton Family Foundation + Morning Consult]
- 66% of voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate for federal office who “made addressing climate change and water-related environmental issues, like drought and flooding, a key part of their platform” [Walton Family Foundation + Morning Consult]
- 62% of voters support rebates to make it more affordable for Americans to purchase electric vehicles in order to help keep energy prices under control and weaken Russia’s oil- and gas-dependent economy [Climate Power + Data for Progress]
- More Americans say that climate change and the environment is the single most important issue to them than any other issue aside from the economy and health care [Economist + YouGov]
FULL ROUNDUP
Climate Power + Data for Progress
Amid the current energy crisis, voters want more clean energy production and more accountability for fossil fuel companies (Release, Topline)
This new poll from Climate Power and Data for Progress shows that voters widely support increasing domestic clean energy production in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These findings are very consistent with the poll released last week by Climate Power and LCV, which found that voters were responsive to arguments about the need to transition toward clean energy in order to provide America with more secure and stable energy that can’t be disrupted by dictators like Vladimir Putin.
The Climate Power / Data for Progress poll finds that voters overwhelmingly support the federal government making investments to increase clean energy production in America in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (69% support / 23% oppose), with majority support from voters of all party affiliations – including an 87%-7% margin among Democrats, a 66%-25% margin among independent voters, and a 54%-40% margin among Republicans.
Similar to the Climate Power / LCV poll from last week, this new poll also finds that voters believe criticisms of fossil fuel companies for profiteering off the crisis are valid: by a 75%-18% margin, voters agree more with the statement that “oil and gas companies should not use this moment to increase their profits and benefit their executives and other shareholders on Wall Street” than an opposing statement that “oil and gas companies still have to run a business and need to recover from the pandemic, which justifies their prices.”
Consistent with that sentiment, the poll finds that voters widely support “taxing the excessive profits of oil and gas companies” (63% support / 24% oppose) as one way to help keep energy prices under control and weaken a Russian economy that is heavily dependent on oil and gas exports.
This idea to tax fossil fuel companies’ excessive profits also enjoys more support than opposition from voters of all party affiliations, further demonstrating how focusing on corporate polluters like oil and gas companies can be effective in creating a “common enemy” to rally partisans on both sides behind climate-friendly policies.
POLITICO + Morning Consult
Voters are open to increasing domestic oil production, despite half supporting the declaration of climate change as a “national emergency” (Topline, Crosstabs)
This new national tracking poll from POLITICO and Morning Consult provides some sobering data about the way voters view the current energy crisis.
The poll finds that voters are supportive of several proposals to increase the domestic supply of oil when they are framed as “methods for reducing gasoline prices”:
- 72% support the federal government asking U.S. producers to pump more oil
- 64% support the federal government releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- 56% support the federal government opening up public lands for oil drilling
These data points demonstrate that voters view increasing domestic oil production as a sensible short-term solution to the energy crisis – even as many voters in the same poll say they support declaring climate change as a national emergency (51% support / 37% oppose) and banning fossil fuel drilling on federal land (39% support / 42% oppose).
As polls like this show, the idea of an “all-of-the-above” strategy to increase domestic energy production – including both clean energy and fossil fuels – is very appealing to the public. The attractiveness of this “all-of-the-above” approach makes it all the more important for climate advocates to make strong public arguments as to why doubling down on fossil fuels right now is a dangerous idea.
In addition to the LCV / Climate Power deck linked above, we’ve been recommending this LCV / Climate Power poll memo and running Combined Defense Project compilation doc as good messaging resources for advocates who are trying to counter the arguments of the fossil fuel industry about gas prices and Russia’s invasion.
Walton Family Foundation + Morning Consult
Voters are more inclined to support political candidates whose environmental platforms include a focus on water-related issues like drought and flooding (Release, National Topline, AZ Topline, CO Topline)
This new poll, conducted in advance of World Water Day, supports one of the common findings in environmental polling: clean water consistently ranks as one of the public’s very highest environmental concerns.
The poll asked how urgent several water-related environmental priorities are, and majorities of voters say it is “very urgent” to provide access to clean, safe drinking water (59%), to protect oceans (53%), and to protect rivers, lakes, and streams (52%).
The poll also found that voters link climate change to several water-related problems, including natural disasters like floods and droughts:
- 67% agree that climate change is “having devastating effects on the world’s water resources”
- 67% believe that drought is a product of climate change’s effect on the world’s water resources
- 65% believe that extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes are a product of climate change’s effect on the world’s water resources
- 65% believe that wildfires are a product of climate change’s effect on the world’s water resources
- 63% believe that flooding is a product of climate change’s effect on the world’s water resources
Additionally, the poll demonstrates that political candidates can benefit greatly from putting water issues front and center when they talk about climate change. In a split-sample experiment, just over half of voters say that they are more likely to vote for a candidate for federal office who “made addressing climate change a key part of the platform” (51% more likely to vote for this candidate / 17% less likely to vote for this candidate) while nearly two-thirds say they are more likely to vote for a candidate for federal office who “made addressing climate change and water-related environmental issues, like drought and flooding, a key part of their platform” (66% more likely to vote for this candidate / 12% less likely to vote for this candidate).
As this finding illustrates, connecting climate change to the day-to-day environmental problems that concern most Americans (more than 70% of voters in the poll say they are at least “somewhat” concerned about drought, water scarcity, and extreme weather like hurricanes and tornadoes) can be a highly effective messaging tactic to raise the salience of climate change and make the public recognize it as a here-and-now problem rather than one to be dealt with in the future.
Related Resources
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