Environmental Polling Roundup – May 1, 2026
Headlines
Data for Progress – Voters overwhelmingly support stronger regulations on utility costs and a windfall profits tax on oil companies [Website, Crosstabs]
Navigator – Voters say that they are more concerned about oil and gas companies having influence in D.C., and believe that they have more influence over Trump, than any other industry [Website, Deck, Topline]
Data for Progress – Voters mistakenly believe that the U.S. is leading China in clean energy technology and say that they would much rather buy American-made EVs than Chinese-made EVs [Website, Crosstabs]
Key Takeaways
Voters single out the oil and gas industry for its harmful influence over U.S. politics, even more than other unpopular industries. In a clear sign of the public’s populist mood, Navigator finds that voters are more likely to express concern about “billionaire CEOs” having influence over U.S. politics than any other group–including political extremists, activists, and foreign governments.
And when asked which particular industry or interest group’s influence concerns them most, voters are more likely to say that they’re concerned about oil and gas companies having influence over U.S. politics than any other industry–even ahead of other common pariahs including Wall Street, drug and health insurance companies, and tech and AI companies.
These findings largely hold true across the political spectrum, with oil and gas ranking as the most concerning lobby to Democrats and independents and as one of the most concerning to Republicans along with drug and health insurance companies and tech/AI.
Additionally, voters are more likely to say that oil and gas companies have too much influence over Trump than any other industry or interest group. While voters’ belief that oil and gas companies have too much influence in Washington clearly predates the current spike in gas prices, it stands to reason that rising fuel costs are exacerbating voters’ anger with the fossil fuel lobby and bringing its political influence into sharper focus.
There remains a clear, bipartisan appetite for policies that hold utilities and fossil fuel companies more accountable. Consistent with voters’ anger over corporate power and the high cost of living, Data for Progress finds broad support for a variety of proposals to rein in companies’ price gouging. This includes overwhelming and bipartisan support for legislation that would stop utilities from passing on unreasonable costs (such as for high debt, lobbying, and fines) onto consumers and for a windfall profits tax on oil companies.
The need for stronger accountability for utilities, oil and gas, and other industries is one of the clearest points of cross-partisan agreement in polling today. We encourage advocates to heed this political moment and utilize corporate accountability framing in their messaging and outreach wherever applicable.
Good Data Points to Highlight
[Utility Accountability] 79% of voters support restricting private utility companies from passing unreasonable costs (like high debt, lobbying, fines, and penalties) onto customers and ensuring they prioritize investments to save costs [Data for Progress
[Fossil Fuel Accountability] 69% of voters support requiring large oil companies to pay a 50% tax on sudden and unusually high profits, such as during the U.S.-Iran war, and distributing this money directly back to American consumers as a quarterly rebate [Data for Progress]
Full Roundup
Data for Progress – Voters overwhelmingly support stronger regulations on utility costs and a windfall profits tax on oil companies [Website, Crosstabs]
Of all the economic policies being put forward by progressives in Congress, strengthening regulations on utility costs ranks among the most popular. Testing a series of 11 policy proposals that are backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Data for Progress finds that restricting utility companies from passing “unreasonable” costs to customers (79% support) ranks among the very most popular and also earns the most intense support (55% “strongly” in favor) of any policy tested.
Additionally, around two-thirds of voters (69%) support a policy to provide a gas rebate to Americans by taxing oil companies’ unusually high profits.
Below are all of the policies tested in the poll, ranked by their overall level of support:
- Restricting private utility companies from passing unreasonable costs (like high debt, lobbying, fines, and penalties) onto customers and ensuring they prioritize investments to save costs – 79% support, including 55% who support it “strongly”
- Requiring that companies provide all full-time workers a minimum of two weeks of paid vacation per year – 79% support, 50% strongly
- Reducing corporate control over seed patents, which would allow farmers to save and replant their seeds with greater control and at lower cost, instead of needing to buy new seeds each year – 75% support, 44% strongly
- Capping contributions to super PACs (political action committees) at $5,000 per donor per year, so these organizations can no longer raise unlimited amounts per donor to spend on political campaigning – 71% support, 47% strongly
- Banning companies from using artificial intelligence (AI) to set prices or wages based on personal data – 70% support, 44% strongly
- Allowing the federal government to manufacture generic drugs (like insulin, asthma inhalers, naloxone, epinephrine auto-injectors, and antibiotics), and to then sell them to Americans at a discounted price – 70% support, 41% strongly
- Compensating Americans facing higher gas prices by requiring large oil companies to pay a 50% tax on sudden and unusually high profits, such as during the U.S.-Iran war, and distributing this money directly back to American consumers as a quarterly rebate – 69% support, 40% strongly
- Raising overtime pay by requiring employers to pay twice (2x a worker’s wage) for every hour worked over 40 hours a week, instead of the current rate of “time and a half” (1.5x a worker’s wage), which would be the first increase of overtime in 88 years – 69% support, 40% strongly
- Investing $1 trillion to create and preserve affordable and accessible housing, support public housing, expand rental assistance, and provide $20,000 in federal assistance to first-time homeowners for down payments, closing costs, and mortgage interest rate buydowns – 66% support, 36% strongly
- Allowing state attorneys general to seek financial compensation from large grocery chains that engage in anti-competitive behaviors and price discrimination – 65% support, 36% strongly
- Capping child care costs at $10 per day for half of American families and no more than 7% of household income for all families through federal investment in locally administered child care options – 65% support, 35% strongly
There is bipartisan support for limiting utility costs and instituting a windfall profits tax on oil companies. The proposal to restrict utility companies from passing unreasonable costs onto consumers earns support from more than three-quarters of voters of every partisan affiliation, including 77% of Democrats, 80% of independents, and 78% of Republicans.
The proposal to provide Americans with a gas rebate via a windfall profits tax on oil companies also earns broad support across the political spectrum, with 72% of Democrats, 71% of independents, and 65% of Republicans in favor of it.
Navigator – Voters say that they are more concerned about oil and gas companies having influence in D.C., and believe that they have more influence over Trump, than any other industry [Website, Deck, Topline]
Voters are more worried about corporations influencing U.S. politics than political extremists, activists, or foreign governments. In a clear sign of the populist political moment that we’re in, voters are more likely to express concern about “billionaire CEOs” having influence over U.S. politics than any other group. “Large corporations” also rank as one of the most concerning influences in D.C.
Below are the percentages who said that they were concerned about various groups having influence over U.S. politics when asked to choose up to four listed options:
- Billionaire CEOs – Chosen by 52% as one of the most concerning influences on U.S. politics
- Wealthy donors – 41%
- Large corporations – 38%
- Foreign governments – 30%
- Extremes of the political spectrum – 27%
- Lobbyists – 26%
- Special interests – 22%
- Celebrities – 15%
- Religious leaders – 14%
- Activists – 14%
- Social media influencers – 12%
- Media personalities – 10%
- Advocacy groups and nonprofits – 9%
Billionaire CEOs notably ranked as the most concerning source of influence for voters of every partisan affiliation–including Democrats (65%), independents (50%), and Republicans (38%).
More than any other industry, voters say that they are worried about political influence from oil and gas companies and believe that oil and gas companies have influence over Trump. When asked to choose up to three particular industries or interest groups whose political influence concerns them, voters are more likely to choose oil and gas companies than any other group:
- Oil and gas companies – Chosen by 40% as one of the most concerning influences on U.S. politics
- Drug and health insurance companies – 35%
- Tech and artificial intelligence (AI) companies – 34%
- Wall Street, including banks, hedge funds, and private equity – 32%
- Defense and the military industry – 24%
- Media companies and the entertainment industry – 19%
- Religious organizations – 16%
- Labor unions – 12%
- Real estate developers and the housing industry – 10%
- Colleges and universities – 10%
Both Democrats (47%) and independents (42%) are more likely to say that they’re concerned about influence from oil and gas companies than any other industry or interest group. Oil and gas companies also rank as one of the most concerning influences for Republican voters (31%), along with drug and health insurance companies (37%) and tech and AI companies (32%).
And when asked which of these groups they believe have too much influence over Trump specifically, oil and gas companies also rise to the top of voters’ list ahead of other industries or interest groups. Below are the percentages of voters who ranked each group as one of the three with the most undue influence over Trump:
- Oil and gas companies – Chosen by 35% as one of the groups with too much influence over Trump
- Wall Street, including banks, hedge funds, and private equity – 32%
- Defense and the military industry – 24%
- Tech and artificial intelligence (AI) companies – 23%
- Drug and health insurance companies – 16%
- Media companies and the entertainment industry – 14%
- Real estate developers and the housing industry – 10%
- Religious organizations – 10%
- Labor unions – 7%
- Colleges and universities – 5%
Democrats (45%), independents (37%), and Republicans (25%) are all more likely to say that oil and gas companies have too much influence over Trump than any other industry or interest group
The majority of voters continue to say that gas prices are going up “a lot.” While voters’ belief that oil and gas companies have too much influence in Washington clearly predates the current spike in gas prices, it stands to reason that rising fuel costs are exacerbating voters’ anger with the fossil fuel lobby.
On that note, Navigator finds that more than four in five voters (84%) agree that the cost of gas is going up. And as has been the case since shortly after the conflict with Iran broke out, voters are also more likely to say that the cost of gas is going up “a lot” (56%) than any other household expense–including groceries (45%), utilities (35%), costs generally (35%), or health care (32%).
Data for Progress – Voters mistakenly believe that the U.S. is leading China in clean energy technology and say that they would much rather buy American-made EVs than Chinese-made EVs [Website, Crosstabs]
Voters believe that the U.S. is leading China in clean energy technology. When asked to choose which of the two countries leads the world in developing clean energy technologies, voters are 21 points more likely to say that the U.S. is the world’s clean energy leader (52%) than China (31%).
In reality, China dominates the worldwide production of clean energy technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles.
The misguided confidence that the U.S. is leading the world in clean energy technology is largely driven by Republicans: around seven in ten Republicans (69%) believe that the U.S. is leading the world in the field, compared to 40% of Democrats and 41% of independents.
Despite seeing China as an adversary, voters lean toward cooperating with it on developing and manufacturing clean energy technologies. Around three-quarters of voters (74%) say that China is more of an adversary and competitor of the U.S., compared to just 16% who view China as more of an ally and partner.
Despite this, voters lean toward saying that the U.S. will make more progress on clean energy by cooperating with China rather than competing with China when presented with the following competing arguments:
- “We’ll make progress on clean energy technologies faster if the U.S. prioritizes cooperating with China on the development and manufacturing of these technologies.” – 47% agree more with this argument
- “We’ll make progress on clean energy technologies faster if the U.S. prioritizes competing with China on the development and manufacturing of these technologies.” – 39% agree more with this argument
Most voters say that they’re unlikely to purchase an EV, but they’re more inclined to buy American-made EVs than vehicles made in China or elsewhere. A bit less than half of voters (45%) say that they would be at least “somewhat” likely to purchase an electric vehicle made in the U.S. if they were in the market for a new vehicle within the next decade.
Considerably fewer say that they would be likely to buy an EV made in China (27%) or elsewhere (34%).
Voters are split on whether Chinese EVs should be allowed in the U.S. After learning that Chinese EVs will soon be available in Canada but are banned in the U.S., voters have mixed attitudes about whether Chinese EVs should be available for U.S. consumers to purchase domestically (41% support / 46% oppose). The topic divides voters by partisanship, as the majority of Democrats support making Chinese EVs available to Americans (57% support / 31% oppose) while the majority of Republicans oppose the idea (29% support / 61% oppose).
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