Environmental Polling Roundup – May 17, 2024
HEADLINES
Navigator – Voters rank oil and gas as the country’s greediest industry, and continue to blame oil and gas companies more than anyone else for high gas prices [Release, Deck, Topline]
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines say that they want their communities to utilize new federal funding for clean energy or infrastructure projects [Report, Crosstabs]
[Young Voters] Blueprint – Climate change and the environment rank among President Biden’s biggest issue advantages over Trump with young voters, with clear room to grow [Release, Deck, Topline, Crosstabs]
[Florida] Florida Atlantic University – Floridians overwhelmingly say that the state government should do more to address climate change, which they see as a tangible threat to Florida; solar is by far the most popular energy source in the state [Release, Topline]
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- You can’t go too far in calling for oil and gas industry accountability. Navigator finds that oil and gas companies are deeply unpopular, which is consistent with Gallup’s finding that the oil and gas industry is less popular than any other industry aside from pharmaceuticals. Navigator further finds that voters rank oil and gas companies as the greediest companies in the country, just ahead of pharmaceutical and health insurance companies. Given the public’s animus toward fossil fuel companies, we’ve seen virtually every proposed measure to hold oil and gas companies more accountable – including a “climate superfund” bill, other forms of “polluters pay” legislation, and a windfall profits tax – consistently earn majority support.
- Americans are more amenable to local clean energy development than conventional wisdom says. While the press often treats it as a fact that Americans don’t want clean energy projects in their communities, polls consistently tell a different story. Data for Progress finds that the overwhelming majority of voters – including majorities across party lines – approve of their communities using new federal funding to develop clean energy or other infrastructure projects. Similarly, previous polling by Global Strategy Group has found that most voters support building solar farms, wind turbines, and new transmission lines in their local areas.
GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT
- [Clean Energy + Infrastructure] 78% of voters approve of new clean energy or infrastructure projects being developed in their community [Data for Progress]
- [Fossil Fuel Accountability] 56% of voters have unfavorable opinions of oil and gas companies, while just 34% feel favorably about them [Navigator]
- [Florida] 90% of Floridians recognize that climate change is happening, including 58% who say that it’s being caused largely by human activity [Florida Atlantic University]
- [Florida] 68% of Floridians agree that climate change has them concerned about the well-being of future generations in Florida [Florida Atlantic University]
- [Florida] 68% of Floridians agree that the state government should do more to address the impacts of climate change [Florida Atlantic University]
FULL ROUNDUP
Navigator – Voters rank oil and gas as the country’s greediest industry, and continue to blame oil and gas companies more than anyone else for high gas prices [Release, Deck, Topline]
Oil and gas companies remain deeply unpopular. The majority of voters (56%) have unfavorable attitudes about oil and gas companies, while just one-third (34%) have favorable opinions.
Navigator finds that voters feel almost as negatively about oil and gas companies as they do about pharmaceutical companies (34% favorable / 59% unfavorable), which is consistent with other polling: Gallup has similarly found that the pharmaceutical industry is the only major industry less popular than oil and gas.
Importantly, while negativity toward the oil and gas industry is driven by Democrats (26% favorable / 65% unfavorable), Republicans aren’t inclined to defend the industry either and are instead split evenly in their opinions (46% favorable / 45% unfavorable).
Oil and gas companies continue to bear the most blame for high gas prices. When asked to rank the factors most responsible for current gas prices, voters are more likely to blame oil and gas companies than anybody or anything else.
Below are the percentages who rank each of the following groups and causes as the most or second-most responsible for high gas prices:
- Oil and gas companies – 62%
- Conflicts abroad, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas War – 52%
- Joe Biden and Democrats – 45%
- Environmental policies – 27%
- Republicans – 14%
Oil and gas companies incur blame for high gas prices from across the political spectrum: Democrats blame oil and gas companies more than any other cause, and Republicans blame them more than anybody or anything except for Biden and Democrats.
Voters across party lines view the oil and gas industry as one of the country’s greediest. When asked to choose up to three industries that they believe are “most likely to be greedy and raise prices to make record profits,” voters place oil and gas companies at the top of the list:
- Oil and gas companies – 70%
- Pharmaceutical and health insurance companies – 68%
- The grocery and food manufacturing industry – 39%
- The real estate industry – 27%
- The banking industry – 26%
- The tobacco industry – 22%
- The entertainment industry – 16%
Democrats and independents both rank oil and gas companies as the greediest, while Republicans rank them as the second-greediest industry (60%) after pharmaceutical and health insurance companies (67%).
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines say that they want their communities to utilize new federal funding for clean energy or infrastructure projects [Report, Crosstabs]
With new federal funding becoming available, voters overwhelmingly say that they want clean energy or infrastructure projects in their area. Nearly four in five voters (78%) say that they approve of new clean energy or infrastructure projects being developed in their community after learning that “recently passed federal legislation will give communities across the country funding for new infrastructure development projects, such as renewable energy and public transportation.”
Democrats (92%) nearly universally support new clean energy or infrastructure projects in their areas, while large majorities of independents (78%) and Republicans (64%) also approve of these projects.
Voters widely support publicly owned infrastructure projects when they learn about them. Data for Progress finds that there is a lot of inherent appeal to publicly owned infrastructure projects, particularly in how they allow for democratic governance and community input on the types of benefits that projects will yield.
Their poll also finds that broad majorities support establishing more publicly owned infrastructure projects in the U.S. when they learn about examples of these types of projects, including:
- Rural electric cooperatives, nonprofit electric utilities in rural communities owned by the customers, who get to elect the governing boards (74% support / 13% oppose)
- Tribal ownership, where Native American tribes collectively own and determine the use of profits from clean energy projects on their lands (70% support / 17% oppose)
- Solar cooperatives, where community members collectively purchase solar panels, often receiving bulk purchasing rates and shared economic benefits (68% support / 21% oppose)
- Municipally-owned infrastructure, where local governments own and operate utilities, such as electricity and internet, rather than private companies (59% support / 27% oppose)
[Young Voters] Blueprint – Climate change and the environment rank among President Biden’s biggest issue advantages over Trump with young voters, with clear room to grow [Release, Deck, Topline, Crosstabs]
Young voters trust Biden over Trump to handle climate change and the environment, though there is clear opportunity for Biden to extend this advantage. Voters under the age of 30 trust Biden by 16 points over Trump (58% Biden / 42% Trump) to protect the climate and environment.
Of all the issues that Blueprint asked about in this youth voter poll, only protecting reproductive rights and reducing racial tension rank as clearer strengths for Biden than climate and the environment:
- Protecting reproductive rights – Biden +24
- Reducing racial tension in the country – Biden +20
- Protecting climate and the environment – Biden +16
- Reducing gun violence – Biden +16
- Ensuring that I will have a better future – Biden +8
- Passing economic policies that help me – Biden +6
- Implementing fairer taxes – Biden +6
- Making sure jobs pay well – Biden +6
- Preventing war and conflict – Biden +2
- Making it affordable to start and raise a family – Biden +2
- Reducing prices – Trump +4
- Securing the border – Trump +6
Still, there is a lot of room for President Biden to extend this advantage on climate change and the environment with young voters.
Polls consistently show that young voters overwhelmingly support President Biden’s actions on climate change and the environment but have heard little about them. Communicating the basics of President Biden’s climate and environmental record therefore goes a long way to increasing his support from young voters.
[Florida] Florida Atlantic University – Floridians overwhelmingly say that the state government should do more to address climate change, which they see as a tangible threat to Florida; solar is by far the most popular energy source in the state [Release, Topline]
Floridians nearly universally recognize that climate change is happening. Nine in ten Floridians (90%) acknowledge that climate change is happening, including 58% who say that it is “largely caused by human activity.”
Most Floridians worry about a range of environmental problems, including damage to the state’s marine environment, water pollution, and extreme weather. Majorities of Floridians say that they are either “extremely” or “moderately” concerned about each of the following environmental threats:
- Losing access to Florida’s clean and reliable drinking water supplies – 70%
- The health of Florida’s natural environment (for example, coral reefs, wetlands, and fisheries) – 69%
- Hurricanes becoming stronger and/or more frequent in Florida – 65%
- Temperatures rising in Florida – 60%
- Higher storm surge flooding near Florida’s coastline – 59%
- Florida’s rising sea levels – 55%
- Flooding from rainfall becoming heavier in Florida – 55%
Extreme weather is clearly a salient issue in Florida, as nearly half of Floridians say that they’ve been affected by heat waves (48%) in the past year, 37% say that they’ve been affected by hurricanes or tornadoes, and around one in four (23%) say that they’ve been impacted by flooding.
In stark contrast to their state’s leadership, Floridians clearly want to see climate action at the state level. More than two-thirds of Floridians (68%) agree that climate change has them “concerned about the well-being of future generations in Florida.”
Accordingly, the overwhelming majority of Floridians agree that the state government “should do more to address the impacts of climate change” (68% agree / 11% disagree) even as Governor Ron DeSantis pushes the state to ignore the reality of the problem.
Solar is by far the most popular energy source in Florida. Consistent with national polling, Florida Atlantic University finds that Floridians support solar more than any other energy source.
Around half (51%) choose solar when asked to pick the primary form of energy production that Florida should be supporting for the future, far more than any other energy source:
- Solar – 51%
- Natural gas – 12%
- Nuclear – 10%
- Wind – 10%
- Coal – 2%
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