Environmental Polling Roundup – May 26, 2023
HEADLINES
Climate Power + LCV + Fossil Free Media – To address energy costs, Americans widely prefer cracking down on price gouging and expanding clean energy over expanding drilling and pipelines (Memo)
Navigator – Voters don’t want a debt default, and don’t want to cut core programs to reach a deal (Release, Deck)
Axios + Harris – Patagonia tops the list of the country’s most respected brands; fossil fuel companies – especially ExxonMobil and BP – fare poorly (Article)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The public is on board with a harder line against the fossil fuel industry. Climate Power, LCV, and Fossil Free Media find that voters believe Big Oil is more a part of the problem when it comes to energy prices than a part of the solution. Large majorities support proposals to crack down on price gouging by oil and gas companies and to tax these companies’ excess profits, and this new polling also shows that arguments centering on Big Oil’s greed – including messaging about record profits, price gouging, and stock buybacks – continue to resonate. Meanwhile, the new Axios/Harris ranking of major companies’ brand reputations finds that ExxonMobil and BP have particularly weak standing with the public.
- We need to keep driving home that clean energy is better for consumers than fossil fuels, and there are signs that the public is coming around to this idea. When presented with competing approaches to address energy prices, Climate Power, LCV, and Fossil Free Media find that voters widely prefer to boost clean energy while cracking down on Big Oil’s profiteering over expanding oil and gas development. Importantly, they also find that voters believe clean energy companies are helping the situation with energy prices (while believing that oil and gas companies are hurting the situation) and that voters approve of tax breaks and subsidies for clean energy (while they disapprove of tax breaks and subsidies for oil and gas). Continuing to draw this contrast – that clean energy benefits consumers, while Big Oil’s greed is hurting consumers – is critical to counter arguments for an “all-of-the-above” energy approach that includes further fossil fuel expansion.
GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT
- [Energy Prices] By a greater than two-to-one margin (68%-32%), voters prefer to deal with energy prices by “cracking down on price gouging by oil companies, taxing the huge excess profits of oil companies, and expanding energy production from clean energy sources” (68%) over “expanding oil drilling in U.S. oceans and wilderness areas and building more pipelines across the country for transporting oil and gas” (32%) [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
- [Energy Prices] Most voters believe that companies involved in solar and wind energy production are making things better for energy consumers (53% better / 15% worse), while they lean toward believing that companies involved in oil and gas are making things worse for energy consumers (29% better / 38% worse) [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
- [Clean Energy] 84% of voters support increasing the amount of energy produced from clean energy sources [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
- [Clean Energy] 78% of voters approve of subsidies and tax breaks for wind and solar energy companies [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
- [Big Oil Accountability] 89% of voters support cracking down on oil and gas companies that engage in price gouging, including 65% who strongly support this idea [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
- [Big Oil Accountability] 76% of voters support passing a tax on the excess profits made by oil and gas companies [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
- [Big Oil Accountability] 66% of voters disapprove of tax breaks and subsidies for oil and gas companies [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
- [Big Oil Accountability] Majorities of voters believe that oil company CEOs (59%) and oil industry lobbyists (55%) are making things worse for consumers when it comes to energy prices [Climate Power/LCV/Fossil Free Media]
FULL ROUNDUP
Climate Power + LCV + Fossil Free Media – To address energy costs, Americans widely prefer cracking down on price gouging and expanding clean energy over expanding drilling and pipelines (Memo)
This new polling finds that voters are amenable to energy policies that take a harder line on fossil fuels while promoting clean energy.
Importantly, voters believe that fossil fuel companies are more a part of the problem than a part of the solution when it comes to energy prices for American consumers. Majorities say that oil company CEOs (15% better / 59% worse) and oil industry lobbyists (16% better / 55% worse) are making energy prices worse for consumers.
The public also leans toward believing that “major oil companies like ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, and Chevron” (21% better / 49% worse) and “companies that are involved in oil and gas exploration and development” (29% better / 38% worse) are making the situation with energy prices worse. The data points here indicate that voters are more likely to blame oil and gas companies for high energy prices when those companies are called out by name – likely because voters have little sympathy for big corporations.
Consistent with the blame that voters put on Big Oil for the situation with energy prices, the poll finds that voters support a range of solutions to hold these companies more accountable:
- 89% support cracking down on oil and gas companies that engage in price gouging, including 65% who strongly support this action
- 76% support passing a tax on the excess profits made by oil and gas companies
- 66% disapprove of the federal government giving tax breaks and subsidies to oil and gas companies
By contrast, the poll finds that voters believe that clean energy producers are part of the solution to high energy prices. The majority of voters (53%) say that “companies that are involved in solar and wind energy production” are making the situation with energy prices better for consumers, while only 15% believe that these companies are making things worse.
Additionally, large majorities support increasing the amount of energy produced from clean energy sources (84%) and approve of subsidies and tax breaks for wind and solar energy companies (78%).
Given these dynamics, voters widely support addressing energy prices by cracking down on oil company greed and boosting clean energy rather than further expanding oil and gas.
When presented with the two alternative approaches below, voters support the approach that cracks down on Big Oil’s price gouging and boosts clean energy by a greater than two-to-one margin (68%-32%):
- Cracking down on price gouging by oil companies, taxing the huge excess profits of oil companies, and expanding energy production from clean energy sources (68%)
- Expanding oil drilling in U.S. oceans and wilderness areas and building more pipelines across the country for transporting oil and gas (32%)
When told that the first approach has been put forward by Democrats in Congress and the second approach has been put forward by Republicans in Congress, the margin here naturally tightens a bit – from 36 points in favor of the pro-clean energy approach (68%-32%) to 16 points in favor of the pro-clean energy approach (58%-42%).
The fact that the pro-clean energy contingent loses some people once the debate becomes politicized isn’t surprising, but it also suggests that there’s a large faction of Republican and Republican-leaning voters who prefer the pro-clean energy approach and just aren’t willing to say that they support a Democratic proposal.
Messaging-wise, the poll memo highlights three arguments against oil companies that test as particularly persuasive:
- Profits and buybacks: “Big oil companies made over $400 billion in profits in 2022, a new record for the industry. Exxon alone made over $55 billion in profits last year. All while Big Oil CEOs pocketed hundreds of millions in pay. But instead of giving people relief by lowering gas prices, they passed the profits on to their shareholders with stock buybacks and dividends.”
- Price gouging: “CEOs of big oil companies are using worldwide inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as excuses to increase their prices and keep them high. While U.S. consumers and the rest of the world are suffering from decreased oil and gas supplies, the oil company CEOs are jacking up their prices to increase profits.”
- Subsidies: “Big oil companies have been getting tens of billions of dollars in subsidies from taxpayers for decades. But when inflation is soaring and the American people most need relief, these companies make it worse. In fact, they intentionally keep their prices high.”
Additionally, the poll memo identifies two particularly strong messages to describe attempts by congressional Republicans to protect Big Oil and polluting industries. They find that the Ohio train derailment is a particularly salient example of the dangers of bowing to industry demands:
- Donors over safety: “The train derailment in Ohio is just the latest example of disasters that happen when big industry gets its way. Republicans in Congress are weakening environmental and public health protections to please their big oil company donors, while the rest of us pay the cost.”
- Loosening oversight: “Republicans in Congress go out of their way to protect the interests of big oil companies, usually at the expense of everyday Americans. They block any efforts to require oil drilling operations to be safe for workers and the environment; they fight to continue giving away taxpayer money to these hugely profitable companies; and they refuse to hold oil companies accountable when there is a giant spill due to a company cutting corners.”
Navigator – Voters don’t want a debt default, and don’t want to cut core programs to reach a deal (Release, Deck)
The latest polling from Navigator finds that awareness of debt ceiling negotiations has ticked up over the past month (61% have heard at least “some” about the issue, up from 57% in early May) and voters are increasingly eager to see the debt ceiling raised.
By a nearly two-to-one margin (57% support / 30% oppose), voters say that they support raising the debt ceiling after reading an explanation that the debt ceiling “needs to be raised in order to avoid defaulting on the government’s bills.”
This 27-point margin of support represents a nine-point shift in favor of raising the debt ceiling since Navigator previously asked this question in early May. That earlier poll found an 18-point margin of support (53% support / 35% oppose).
Voters do not want to see the debt ceiling raised if it means cutting core government programs, however – and they sharply oppose congressional Republicans’ proposed budget plan after reading what it would cut.
By a nearly two-to-one margin (30% support / 57% oppose), voters say that they oppose the budget plan that put forward by Republicans in Congress after reading that the plan “would cut 22% of funding for almost everything aside from military spending, including health care, schools, and law enforcement, while also protecting tax cuts for the rich.” (Note that the 22% figure here is one of several estimates floating around, some of which are higher.)
In general, only 13% say that the government should “cut spending on things like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security” while 86% oppose cutting these programs – including two-thirds (68%) who strongly oppose cutting these programs.
The only potential debt ceiling actions that earn majority support from voters are for President Biden to bypass Congress to pay the country’s bills or for the administration to force Congress to pass a “clean” debt ceiling increase:
- Continuing to pay the country’s bills and avoiding default, bypassing Congress if they are unable to negotiate a deal on the debt ceiling (58% support / 24% oppose)
- Forcing Congress to hold a direct vote on a bill to avoid default without any strings attached, known as a discharge petition (55% support / 23% oppose)
Voters are also more inclined to support than oppose a negotiated deal (48% support / 41% oppose) when it’s described as “negotiating with Republicans, even if it means making some cuts to funding for health care, education, and law enforcement.” However, this idea attracts significantly higher opposition than a “clean” debt ceiling increase.
Axios + Harris – Patagonia tops the list of the country’s most respected brands; fossil fuel companies – especially ExxonMobil and BP – fare poorly (Article)
In the annual Axios/Harris poll assessing the reputation of 100 of the most visible brands in the United States, Patagonia takes the top rank with the best overall reputation “score.” (Rather than the favorable/unfavorable scale we typically see in polling, these brand reputation rankings take into account ratings across several different dimensions – including trust, ethics, and products and services).
The fact that a brand so closely tied to sustainability and environmental consciousness earns the strongest reputation is surely no coincidence, and other research indicates that consumers place a greater emphasis on sustainability than retailers realize. (Of course, consumers’ spending habits may not line up with their values for a host of reasons – such as budget restraints and a lack of information about products’ materials and sourcing.)
Meanwhile, fossil fuel companies all rank in the bottom half of the 100 brands tested. BP (#92) and ExxonMobil (#82) have especially low rankings compared to Royal Dutch Shell (#55) and Chevron (#66), and arguments for fossil fuel accountability may accordingly pack more punch if they call out BP and ExxonMobil specifically.
Automakers tend to rank relatively highly on the list, especially Toyota (#6), Honda (#13), and Subaru (#16). General Motors also received a bump in the rankings this year (#34, up from #52 last year).
Meanwhile, Tesla is one of the biggest droppers in this year’s survey – slipping from a #12 ranking last year to a #62 ranking this year. This probably says more about Elon Musk’s divisive reputation than about people’s attitudes towards EVs, however. A recent Economist/YouGov poll found that Democrats – who tend to drive support for the EV transition – have mixed-to-negative attitudes about Musk as an individual (40% favorable / 51% unfavorable).
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