Environmental Polling Roundup – May 30, 2025
Headlines
Data for Progress – Voters oppose clean energy rollbacks in the reconciliation bill, as the IRA’s clean energy and pollution reduction policies remain popular [Release, Crosstabs]
Data for Progress – Voters widely support NEPA and environmental justice reviews when provided with basic explanations of them [Release, Crosstabs]
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines oppose shrinking national monuments [Release, Crosstabs]
[NC] Conservatives for Clean Energy – North Carolina voters, including Republicans, say that they’re more likely to support candidates who encourage renewable energy [Deck]
[MI] Detroit Regional Chamber – Michigan voters agree that the U.S. should “aggressively compete” to lead the world in EV manufacturing, and say that it would hurt Michigan’s economy for China to lead in EVs [Article, Release, Full Report]
Key Takeaways
Voters oppose the reconciliation bill’s cuts to clean energy. Polls have long shown that voters support the Inflation Reduction Act as a package and also support its specific policies to boost clean energy, incentivize energy efficiency, and reduce pollution. With those policies now under threat in Congress’s reconciliation bill, Data for Progress finds that voters want Congress to keep these various IRA measures in place rather than repealing them.
Voters’ clear opposition to IRA rollbacks shows that advocates should now be doubling down on efforts to educate the public about the reconciliation bill’s impacts on energy and the environment, including how cuts to clean energy and energy efficiency would eliminate new manufacturing jobs and raise consumer costs. Given how unpopular IRA repeal is, this messaging is an important complement to other campaigns that are building opposition to the reconciliation bill by focusing on health care, taxes, and other provisions.
Even if these efforts to remove harmful provisions from the final reconciliation bill don’t ultimately succeed, it’s imperative to raise awareness about what’s being cut so that voters can better hold lawmakers accountable.
Threats to public lands continue to unite voters across the political spectrum. Protection of public lands has long been a bipartisan priority for voters, and Republican lawmakers’ last-minute decision to remove public lands sell-offs from the House reconciliation bill shows that lawmakers are aware of the political risks of privatizing public lands.
However, the reconciliation bill in its current version would still harm public lands by paving the way for more drilling, logging, and mining. Further, the Trump administration is considering other harmful policy changes such as reducing the size of national monuments.
New Data for Progress polling finds that shrinking national monuments in particular is deeply unpopular, with opposition from across the political spectrum. Advocates should leverage this cross-partisan agreement on public lands issues to mobilize voters against continued threats to public lands and make sure that policymakers keep feeling the pressure to protect them.
Good Data Points to Highlight
- [Reconciliation + Clean Energy] By a 60%-25% margin, voters say that Congress should keep rather than repeal tax credits for businesses that produce or invest in clean energy manufacturing in the U.S. [Data for Progress]
- [Reconciliation + Energy Efficiency] By a 57%-26% margin, voters say that Congress should keep rather than repeal tax rebates of up to $14,000 to help households cover some of the cost of energy efficiency and electric appliance upgrades [Data for Progress]
- [Reconciliation + Pollution] By a 58%-31% margin, voters say that Congress should keep rather than repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that provides $27 billion in grants for pollution-reducing technologies [Data for Progress]
- [Reconciliation + Pollution] By a 57%-31% margin, voters say that Congress should keep rather than repeal Community Change Grants that provide $3 billion in grants for non-profits serving disadvantaged communities for pollution reduction and clean energy investment [Data for Progress]
- [Air Pollution] By a 72%-19% margin, voters say that Congress should keep rather than repeal Hazardous Air Pollution Standards that limit pollutants that have been linked to cancer, cardiovascular damage, and respiratory problems [Data for Progress]
- [NEPA] 73% of voters support NEPA when provided with a brief description of it [Data for Progress]
- [NEPA] By a 53%-34% margin, voters oppose changing NEPA in a way that would allow companies to pay to bypass parts of the normal environmental review process [Data for Progress]
- [National Monuments] By a 68%-22% margin, voters oppose the Trump administration’s proposal to shrink the size of six national monuments in the West [Data for Progress]
- [NC] 72% of North Carolina voters say that they’re more likely to support a candidate or lawmaker who supports policies that encourage renewable energy options [Conservatives for Clean Energy]
- [MI] 56% of Michigan voters say that the U.S. should “aggressively compete” to be the leader in EV manufacturing [Detroit Regional Chamber]
Full Roundup
Data for Progress – Voters oppose clean energy rollbacks in the reconciliation bill, as the IRA’s clean energy and pollution reduction policies remain popular [Release, Crosstabs]
Voters continue to support the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by an overwhelming margin when they learn what’s in it. Data for Progress finds that seven in ten voters support the IRA (70% support / 21% oppose) when provided with a short description that mentions key components related to clean energy, health care, and the national debt:
“The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 invests over $430 billion in clean energy and Affordable Care Act healthcare premiums. It also allows Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and pays down the national debt by $300 billion.”
Support for the IRA has been remarkably steady over time, with Data for Progress consistently finding since the bill passed in 2022 that around 70% of voters support the bill after reading this description.
Voters support the IRA by a two-to-one margin when they only hear about its climate and clean energy components. In this latest poll, Data for Progress also tested voters’ reactions to the IRA with a description that isolated its climate and clean energy components and didn’t mention the bill’s other major provisions:
“The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 invests over $142 billion in direct funding to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and protect communities against the impacts of climate change. It also allows households and businesses to claim between $780 billion and $1.2 trillion in tax credits for clean energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles over the bill’s lifetime.”
When voters only see this description that focuses on climate and clean energy-related components, they support the bill by a two-to-one margin (61% support / 30% oppose). Support for the bill also spans party lines based on this climate and clean energy-heavy description, as Democrats (72% support / 18% oppose) and independents (59% support / 32% oppose) both support it by wide margins and Republicans are also more likely to support than oppose it (51% support / 42% oppose).
Large majorities support individual policies in the IRA that relate to climate change, clean energy, and the environment. In addition to supporting the IRA as a package, Data for Progress finds that majorities of voters support its individual policies to boost clean energy and reduce pollution. Majorities are in favor of each of the individual IRA policies that the poll asked about, including:
- Grants to reduce air pollution at American ports and improve public health in surrounding communities (72% support)
- Investments in the manufacturing and development of clean energy technologies in America (71% support)
- Investments to reduce pollution and improve public health in disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change (70%)
- Fines for oil and gas companies that pump methane gas pollution into the air (69%)
- Strong labor standards regarding workers’ wages and working conditions for businesses receiving government clean energy tax credits (68%)
- Rebates of up to $14,000 per household on home energy efficiency and electrification upgrades (67%)
- Tax credits for businesses that produce clean energy power and technologies such as solar and wind power, electric batteries, and electric vehicles (67%)
All of these specific policies earn support from across the political spectrum, with majorities of Republicans backing each one.
And as with the IRA overall, support for these specific policies has remained robust over time. Data for Progress found that majorities also supported the IRA’s specific environmental and clean energy provisions in surveys fielded in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
IRA repeal is unpopular, with voters preferring to keep rather than eliminate its major clean energy and pollution reduction investments. Given the widespread support for the IRA and its specific climate and clean energy provisions, it follows that voters reject the idea of repealing the law.
When told that some lawmakers in Congress are considering repealing the entirety of the bill, voters oppose repeal by a two-to-one margin (58% keep / 28% repeal).
Voters would also prefer to keep rather than repeal individual policies and programs that would be eliminated through Republicans’ reconciliation bill, including:
- Tax credits for businesses that produce or invest in clean energy manufacturing in the United States (60% keep / 25% repeal)
- The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that provides $27 billion in grants for pollution-reducing technologies, especially in disadvantaged communities (58% keep / 31% repeal)
- Community Change Grants that provide $3 billion in grants for non-profits serving disadvantaged communities for pollution reduction and clean energy investment (57% keep / 31% repeal)
- Tax rebates of up to $14,000 to help households cover some of the cost of energy efficiency and electric appliance upgrades (57% keep / 26% repeal)
- A tax credit of up to $4,000 per household for the purchase of a used electric vehicle and up to $7,500 for a new electric vehicle (46% keep / 35% repeal)
Data for Progress – Voters widely support NEPA and environmental justice reviews when provided with basic explanations of them [Release, Crosstabs]
Voters across party lines support NEPA after reading a short description of it. In a timely poll fielded shortly before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to narrow the scope of NEPA this week, Data for Progress finds that voters widely agree with the basic intent of NEPA.
Nearly three-quarters support NEPA (73% support / 19% oppose) after seeing the succinct description below:
“The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to study and report the environmental impacts of actions they propose. For example, if a federal agency proposes giving approval to a private company to build an infrastructure project, like a road, bridge, oil and gas pipeline, or solar energy project, that agency must go through the NEPA process to study and report the environmental impact of its proposal before such action can be taken.”
The idea of environmental impact reviews is also relatively non-partisan: large majorities of Democrats (74%), independents (80%), and Republicans (69%) say that they support NEPA based on this description of it.
Voters oppose modifying NEPA in a way that would allow companies to pay to bypass reviews. Republican lawmakers included several “pay-to-play” provisions in the House reconciliation bill that would allow companies to pay to expedite environmental reviews and shield themselves from litigation.
Data for Progress finds that these kinds of changes to NEPA are deeply controversial, with only around one-third of voters supporting changes to NEPA (34% support / 53% oppose) based on the following explanation:
“Some lawmakers in Congress are proposing changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)’s environmental review process, which would enable companies to pay an additional fee to the government to bypass parts of the usual environmental review process to speed up projects and limit environmental and community groups’ ability to mount legal challenges.”
Republicans (47% support / 42% oppose) are much more amenable to these changes than Democrats (28% support / 60% oppose) or independents (24% support / 62% oppose), though support among Republicans still falls short of a majority.
Following simulated debate, voters say that the downsides of weakening NEPA outweigh the benefits. When presented with competing statements for and against these proposed changes to NEPA, voters continue to oppose the modifications to the law. By a 52%-35% margin, voters agree more with an argument that NEPA reform will have mostly negative impacts than an argument that reform will have mostly positive impacts:
- “Reforming NEPA will have mostly negative impacts, because it will hurt communities by preventing them from taking action to protect themselves from detrimental environmental impacts.” (52% agree more)
- “Reforming NEPA will have mostly positive impacts, because it will speed up the environmental review process and make it easier to build new infrastructure projects we need, like clean energy projects.” (35% agree more)
Voters side more with an argument in favor of environmental justice reviews to protect disadvantaged communities over an argument that environmental justice reviews are an unnecessary DEI measure. Amid the ongoing Trump administration push to eliminate all programs and initiatives related to environmental justice, Data for Progress finds that voters side more with an argument in favor of environmental justice reviews for infrastructure projects over an argument against them by a two-to-one margin (59%-28%):
- “The federal government should incorporate an environmental justice analysis into its review of new infrastructure projects to consider the potential impacts on disadvantaged communities that already face large amounts of pollution.” (59% agree more)
- “The federal government should not carry out an ‘environmental justice analysis,’ which is based on a distorted, DEI lens, and should instead speed up environmental review processes to make it easier to build new infrastructure projects.” (28% agree more)
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines oppose shrinking national monuments [Release, Crosstabs]
Voters overwhelmingly oppose shrinking national monuments. As has consistently been the case whenever we’ve seen the topic come up in polling, Data for Progress finds that voters roundly reject the idea of shrinking national monuments.
Nearly seven in ten (22% support / 68% oppose) oppose the Trump administration proposal to reduce the size of national monuments when provided with the following information on the topic:
“The U.S. has more than 100 ‘national monuments’ – designated areas that protect locations of natural or historic significance. The Trump administration is considering shrinking the size of six national monuments in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Utah, including Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon.”
Voters also have deep convictions about the issue, with 45% “strongly” opposing this proposal to shrink down national monuments.
Even after hearing that Trump is proposing it, more Republicans oppose than support shrinking national monuments. Republicans are 10 points more likely to oppose (49%) than support (39%) Trump’s proposal to shrink national monuments, even though the question specifically clarified that the proposal is being considered by the Trump administration.
This kind of finding is a rarity in today’s polling, as we typically see Republicans consolidate behind whichever positions Trump takes, and it shows how much this particular proposal goes against the preferences of Trump’s own voters.
[NC] Conservatives for Clean Energy – North Carolina voters, including Republicans, say that they’re more likely to support candidates who encourage renewable energy [Deck]
North Carolina voters of all political affiliations say that they’re more likely to support lawmakers or candidates who encourage renewable energy. Around seven in ten voters in the state (72%) say that they would be more likely to support a candidate or lawmaker who “supports policies that encourage renewable energy options such as wind, solar, and waste-to-energy technologies.” Just 20% say that they would be more likely to oppose a lawmaker or candidate who takes this pro-renewables position.
Overwhelming majorities of Democrats (87%) and unaffiliated/independent voters (75%) say that they’re more likely to support a pro-renewable energy candidate or lawmaker, as do most Republicans in the state (55%).
When provided with a clear choice between a pro-renewables candidate and a pro-fossil fuel candidate, North Carolina voters prefer the pro-renewables candidate by a wide margin. In a head-to-head test, respondents were presented with two hypothetical political candidates with opposing views and arguments on energy policy:
“Candidate A believes that continued reliance on traditional fossil fuels is the way to go for the future. Oil, natural gas, and coal energy sources are the best for our economy now and into the future.
Candidate B believes it is time to diversify our energy sources. Traditional fossil fuels have served us well but continued reliance on them is not good for our economy or national security. It is time to develop more policies that encourage renewable energy options such as wind, solar, and waste-to-energy technologies.”
North Carolina voters prefer the pro-renewables candidate in this scenario by a 25-point margin (57%-32%), including overwhelming margins among Democrats (79%-10%) and unaffiliated/independent voters (66%-26%). Republican voters, meanwhile, break with the rest of the electorate by preferring the pro-fossil fuels candidate by a 30-point margin (57%-27%).
North Carolina voters want more wind power in the state. On the issue of wind energy specifically, North Carolina voters support the idea of building new wind turbines off the North Carolina coast by a 21-point margin (55% support / 34% oppose).
Again, however, there is a deep partisan split in the state as Democrats (72% support / 15% oppose) and unaffiliated/independent voters (56% support / 34% oppose) both support new offshore wind projects by wide margins while most Republican voters oppose them (38% support / 53% oppose).
Few voters agree with Trump’s plan to expand fossil fuels while limiting clean energy, as North Carolinians show a clear preference for clean energy over fossil fuels. Respondents were presented with three different statements to describe their reaction to Trump’s “energy dominance” policy: agreement with Trump’s policy of expanding fossil fuels while limiting clean energy, agreement with an opposing approach oi expanding clean energy while limiting fossil fuels, or agreement with a compromise option of expanding fossil fuels but not limiting clean energy.
Trump’s policy actually tested as the least popular of the three options, with only 25% in agreement with it. The opposite approach of expanding clean energy while limiting fossil fuels is North Carolinians’ top choice (39%), followed by the compromise approach of expanding fossil fuels without limiting clean energy (29%):
- I agree with his plan to expand fossil fuel production while limiting the expansion of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. (25%)
- I think the plan needs to do more to include expanding renewable energy sources like wind and solar and, at the same time, expanding fossil fuel production. (29%)
- I think the best plan for America is to limit fossil fuel production while expanding more renewable sources like wind and solar. (39%)
Trump’s “energy dominance” plan alienates a large number of North Carolina Republicans, as many disagree with the idea of limiting clean energy production. Only around half of Republican voters (48%) say that they agree with Trump’s plan to expand fossil fuel production while limiting renewables. Around one-third of Republicans (34%) say that the plan should include the expansion of renewable energy while also expanding fossil fuels, and 13% of Republicans break more sharply with Trump by saying that fossil fuels should be limited while renewables are expanded.
[MI] Detroit Regional Chamber – Michigan voters agree that the U.S. should “aggressively compete” to lead the world in EV manufacturing, and say that it would hurt Michigan’s economy for China to lead in EVs [Article, Release, Full Report]
Michigan voters say that the U.S., and Michigan specifically, should compete to lead the world in EV manufacturing. By wide margins, Michigan voters agree that the United States (56% should / 35% should not) and Michigan in particular (58% should / 36% should not) should “aggressively compete to be the leader in electric vehicle manufacturing.”
Michigan voters recognize that Chinese leadership in EV production is bad for Michigan’s economy. Undergirding Michigan voters’ support for domestic EV manufacturing is a clear notion that Chinese leadership in the industry is bad for Michigan’s economy.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) say that it would hurt Michigan’s economy if China “becomes the world leader in electric vehicle manufacturing.” (The poll did not inform respondents that China already manufactures far more electric vehicles than the U.S. or any other country.)
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