Environmental Polling Roundup – October 11, 2024
HEADLINES
Data for Progress – Voters widely support investments in renewable energy and grid expansion; most support solar farms and transmission projects in their own communities [Renewables Article, Renewables Crosstabs, Transmission Article, Transmission Crosstabs]
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines support FEMA but believe that the federal government could do more to help with disaster relief in general [Article, Crosstabs]
The Economist + YouGov – Around two-thirds of Americans say that natural disasters are becoming more common, and most say that climate change is a factor; Americans are divided by partisanship over the federal response to Hurricane Helene [Topline, Crosstabs]
[PA] Ohio River Valley Institute – Pennsylvanians have mixed attitudes about fracking; voters in the state overwhelmingly want stronger regulations on the industry, and around four in ten support phasing out fracking completely [Release, Memo, Deck]
[CA, TX] Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) – Voters in California and Texas both overwhelmingly agree that their states should be doing more to encourage solar power; voters see clear benefits of solar power for grid reliability, the economy, and costs [CA Release, CA Deck, TX Release, TX Deck]
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Americans continue to say that they support new clean energy infrastructure in their communities. Contrary to conventional wisdom, polls consistently show majority support across the country for local clean energy projects. In new polls, Data for Progress finds that most voters support solar panel farms being built in their community and, importantly, also support the local construction of new transmission lines that will be necessary for the country to expand its use of clean energy. Data for Progress’s polling also shows that voters are optimistic that an expanded grid will provide more reliable electricity but need assurance that the costs of grid expansion won’t lead to even higher electricity bills.
The link between climate change and hurricanes isn’t the most intuitive to the public. Polls conducted in between Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton show clear recognition that extreme weather is getting worse but mixed beliefs about the connection between climate change and hurricanes. The Economist and YouGov find that around two-thirds of Americans say that natural disasters have become more frequent in recent decades, and most blame climate change for it. Meanwhile, Data for Progress finds that around half of voters believe that the increasing frequency and strength of hurricanes in the U.S. is more because of climate change than natural patterns. Past research, including polling this year by Pew, has found that Americans are more likely to connect climate change to hot, dry weather events like heat waves, wildfires, and droughts than to severe storms. Accordingly, it’s important for advocates to provide clear and understandable explanations to make the link between climate change and hurricanes more apparent to the public. (The CAC has provided a useful toolkit for communicators on this topic.)
GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT
- [Clean Energy] 65% of voters say that the U.S. should invest more in renewable energy like solar and wind [Data for Progress]
- [Clean Energy] By a 62%-28% margin, voters support a federal renewable electricity standard that would require the U.S. to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2034 [Data for Progress]
- [Transmission] 77% of voters say that it’s important to expand the transmission grid in the U.S. [Data for Progress]
- [Transmission] 55% of voters support a transmission project being built in their community, with just 29% opposed [Data for Progress]
- [Climate Change] 56% of Americans recognize that the world’s climate is changing as a result of human activity, while 25% believe that the climate is changing due to natural causes and just 7% deny that the climate is changing [The Economist + YouGov]
- [Extreme Weather] 66% of Americans recognize that the frequency of major natural disasters occurring globally has increased in recent decades [The Economist + YouGov]
- [Pennsylvania] 74% of Pennsylvania voters agree that fracking should have stricter regulations due to potential health risks [Ohio River Valley Institute]
FULL ROUNDUP
Data for Progress – Voters widely support investments in renewable energy and grid expansion; most support solar farms and transmission projects in their own communities [Renewables Article, Renewables Crosstabs, Transmission Article, Transmission Crosstabs]
Voters are much more likely to support increasing U.S. investments in renewables than fossil fuels. Nearly two-thirds of voters (65%) say that the U.S. should invest more in renewable energy like solar and wind, while less than half (44%) say that the U.S. should invest more in fossil fuels like coal and gas.
These findings mirror research from other sources like Pew, as Americans consistently say that clean energy development should be a higher priority for the country than fossil fuel production.
Most voters, including four in ten Republicans, support a federal renewable energy standard. Data for Progress finds broad support for a renewable energy standard that would commit the country to generating 70% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2034.
The proposal earns the support of three in five voters (62% support / 28% oppose), including four in five Democrats (83%), the majority of independents (57%), and four in ten Republicans (42%).
Voters are measuredly optimistic about how the transition to renewables will affect grid reliability and electricity costs. While most voters express support for a federal renewable energy standard, they have mixed expectations about its potential impacts on costs and reliability.
On balance, voters are slightly more likely to believe that shifting to renewable energy will make electricity cheaper than to believe it will make electricity more expensive (41% cheaper / 36% more expensive). Voters are also 10 points more likely to believe that the transition will increase than decrease grid reliability (41% more reliable / 31% less reliable).
The majority of voters support clean energy and transmission projects in their own communities. Polls consistently show that, contrary to conventional wisdom (and some of the loudest voices on the ground), voters are supportive of building the local infrastructure necessary for the clean energy transition.
Here, Data for Progress finds that three in five voters would feel favorably about solar panel farms being built in their community (63% favorable / 22% unfavorable). And after seeing the description of transmission lines below, most voters support transmission projects being built in their communities (55% support / 29% oppose).
“Transmission lines carry energy from one point of the electric power system to another. These lines are typically overhead and they transport large quantities of high-voltage electricity over long distances.”
Voters see new transmission lines as important for improving grid reliability, but there are clear concerns that the costs of building them will be passed on to ratepayers. The idea of grid expansion comes across as common sense and apolitical: more than three-quarters of voters (77%) agree that it’s important to expand the transmission grid in the U.S., including nearly identical percentages of Democrats (80%) and Republicans (78%).
Most voters (60%) also believe that building new transmission projects would improve the reliability of electricity, but they are considerably more likely to believe that new transmission projects would increase (41%) rather than decrease (23%) the rates that they personally pay for electricity.
Lower energy bills and more reliable electricity are the key benefits that voters want to see if new transmission lines are built in their communities. Whatever doubts voters may have about new transmission projects, the poll clearly shows that cost savings and improved reliability are the keys to offsetting concerns.
When asked to choose the most important attributes that would make them more likely to support new transmission projects in their communities, lowering energy bills (56%) and increasing grid reliability (50%) are the clear top considerations for voters – ahead of other potential benefits such as new local jobs (33%). Among Democrats specifically, enabling more clean energy (51%) also ranks as a top consideration.
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines support FEMA but believe that the federal government could do more to help with disaster relief in general [Article, Crosstabs]
Voters are split about the role of climate change in the increasing frequency and severity of hurricanes. Polling voters on October 2 and 3, a week after Hurricane Helene made landfall, Data for Progress finds that just under half of voters (49%) say that the increasing frequency and strength of hurricanes in the U.S. is primarily the result of climate change. Meanwhile, four in ten (42%) say that hurricanes are becoming more frequent and severe because of natural changes in the environment.
There is a large partisan split in voters’ beliefs about the phenomenon, with Democrats overwhelmingly blaming climate change for the increasingly frequent and severe hurricanes in the U.S. (71%) and Republicans overwhelmingly blaming natural changes in the environment (67%).
Voters across party lines have positive attitudes about FEMA, but believe that federal disaster responses could be better. Around two-thirds of voters have favorable opinions of FEMA (67% favorable / 19% unfavorable), including majorities of Democrats (76%) and Republicans (60%).
Still, slightly more than half of voters (52%)–including a plurality of Democrats (47%) and the majority of Republicans (57%)–say that the federal government is not providing enough support to Americans for disaster relief.
The overwhelming majority of voters support proposed reforms to federal disaster relief in the Regional Impact of Disasters and Energy Relief (RIDER) Act. When provided with a brief explanation of the RIDER Act that was recently introduced in Congress (“this policy would ensure that all communities affected by major disasters are eligible for federal relief, regardless of state or county boundaries, and allow communities to receive aid based on cumulative damage over a 12-month period”), voters support the proposed legislation by an overwhelming 82%-9% margin.
Voters also widely support the federal weather agencies, and reject the Project 2025 proposal to downsize NOAA. To the extent that they can rate them, voters have positive impressions of both NOAA (58% favorable / 11% unfavorable) and the National Weather Service (80% favorable / 10% unfavorable).
Accordingly, when asked about the possible downsizing of NOAA, voters reject the proposal by a two-to-one margin (28% support / 57% oppose).
The Economist + YouGov – Around two-thirds of Americans say that natural disasters are becoming more common, and most say that climate change is a factor; Americans are divided by partisanship over the federal response to Hurricane Helene [Topline, Crosstabs]
Most Americans continue to say that humans are causing climate change. More than half (56%) believe that the climate is changing “as a result of human activity,” while 25% say that the climate is changing for other reasons and only 7% deny that the climate is changing.
This finding is supported by other public polling, which consistently shows that most Americans believe that humans are causing climate change.
Around two-thirds recognize that natural disasters are becoming more frequent, and most say that climate change is a factor. Roughly two in three (66%) say that the global frequency of major natural disasters has increased in recent decades..
Attitudes about extreme weather have been diverging along partisan lines in recent years as a proxy for climate attitudes. Accordingly, The Economist and YouGov find here that Democrats (84%) are substantially more likely than Republicans (53%) to agree that natural disasters are becoming more frequent.
Among Americans who do recognize that natural disasters are occurring more often, around three in five (59%) say that climate change is “entirely” or “mostly” responsible and the vast majority (85%) say that climate change is at least “somewhat” responsible for their increasing frequency.
Americans are divided by partisanship over the federal response to Hurricane Helene. The poll, which was fielded on October 6 and 7 (a week and a half after Helene made landfall), finds a predictably polarized response over the federal response to the disaster.
Most Americans (55% approve / 17% disapprove), including majorities of Democrats (65%) and Republicans (59%), approve of how the governors of affected states responded to Hurricane Helene.
Meanwhile, Americans are much more mixed in their appraisals of how President Biden (38% approve / 44% disapprove) and FEMA (43% approve / 33% disapprove) responded to the crisis. While majorities of Democrats say that they approve of both Biden (72%) and FEMA’s (68%) response to the disaster, majorities of Republicans say that they disapprove of the way that both Biden (80%) and FEMA (57%) responded.
[PA] Ohio River Valley Institute – Pennsylvanians have mixed attitudes about fracking; voters in the state overwhelmingly want stronger regulations on the industry, and around four in ten support phasing out fracking completely [Release, Memo, Deck]
Pennsylvania voters have much more positive attitudes about clean energy than about fracking and the oil and gas industry. Voters in the state are about three times as likely to have positive attitudes than negative attitudes about the clean energy industry (62% favorable / 21% unfavorable). Specific types of clean energy, including solar energy (80% favorable / 11% unfavorable) and wind energy (73% favorable / 16% unfavorable), are even more popular.
Meanwhile, voters are closely divided in their attitudes about the oil and gas industry (45% favorable / 44% unfavorable). And while Pennsylvanians have overwhelmingly positive opinions about natural gas (75% favorable / 14% unfavorable), they are more split in their opinions about fracking (44% favorable / 37% unfavorable).
Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly want to see more government investment in clean energy. More than four in ten voters (83%), including 71% of Republicans, support federal subsidies for clean energy development.
Pennsylvanians are also far more supportive of the government spending taxpayer dollars on wind and solar development (84% support / 16% oppose) than on fracking and pipeline development (62% support / 38% oppose).
Water pollution is a strong concern for Pennsylvania voters. Nearly half of Pennsylvania voters (46%) call water pollution a “very serious concern.” For context, water pollution ranks lower than top concerns such as inflation (69%) and rising utility bills (61%) but on par with concerns over Pennsylvania’s economy (48%).
And as in the rest of the country, Pennsylvania voters are more likely to have strong concerns about water pollution (46%) than about air pollution (38%).
Voters overwhelmingly support stricter regulations on fracking. Consistent with their ambivalence about fracking overall, the poll finds that voters lack trust in the fracking industry and support several proposed policies to strengthen fracking regulations.
Most voters in the state (58%) say that they distrust fracking companies to self-report environmental and public health impacts of their industry. And by a wide margin, voters are more likely to agree that fracking “should have stricter regulations due to potential health risks” (74%) than to agree that fracking “should have fewer regulations to provide a cheaper source of energy” (26%).
Further, commanding majorities support each of the following proposals to strengthen fracking regulations:
-Requiring fracking companies to disclose all chemicals used – 94% support
-Requiring safer transportation of fracking waste – 93%
-Setting up more air monitors near fracking wells – 92%
-Increasing setback distances from schools and hospitals – 90%
-Designating fracking fluids as “hazardous” – 80%
Most Pennsylvanians stop short of supporting a full ban on fracking. Around four in ten (42%) say that they support a “ban on fracking,” with 58% opposed. Attitudes are clearly linked to partisanship, as most Democrats in the state (60%) support a fracking ban while most independents (62%) and Republicans (74%) oppose the idea.
[CA, TX] Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) – Voters in California and Texas both overwhelmingly agree that their states should be doing more to encourage solar power; voters see clear benefits of solar power for grid reliability, the economy, and costs [CA Release, CA Deck, TX Release, TX Deck]
Renewables, and solar in particular, rank as the most popular source of electricity in both California and Texas. More than any other source of energy, voters in both states agree that their electric utilities should be getting more of their electricity from solar and wind.
In California:
-Solar power – 85% agree that their utility should be using more
-Wind power – 78%
-Offshore wind power – 72%
-Natural gas power – 57%
-Nuclear power – 52%
In Texas:
-Solar power – 73% agree that their utility should be using more
-Wind power – 69%
-Natural gas power – 67%
-Nuclear power – 50%
-Coal power – 40%
Accordingly, large majorities in both California (85%) and Texas (71%) agree that their state’s policymakers should be doing more to encourage the use of solar power.
Across geographies, there is clear agreement that solar power is good for the economy and for energy affordability. In both states, large majorities agree with statements about the positive impacts of solar power on their state’s economy and on household costs.
In California:
-88% agree that solar power is good for California’s economy
-87% agree that increasing our use of solar power would save California families money
-83% agree that solar power creates good-paying jobs
In Texas:
-76% agree that solar power is good for Texas’s economy
-72% agree that increasing our use of solar power would save Texas families money
In both states, there is a potent argument that solar can help to make an outdated electric grid more resilient and reliable. In California and in Texas, voters widely agree that their state’s grid needs modernization and that solar provides a path to strengthen and secure electricity service.
In California:
-91% agree that the electric grid in California is outdated and in need of modernization
-88% agree that increasing our use of solar power, paired with battery storage, would make electricity more reliable
-86% agree that increasing our use of solar power, paired with battery storage, would make our electric grid more resilient to extreme weather
In Texas:
-90% agree that the electric grid in Texas is outdated and in need of modernization
-73% agree that increasing our use of solar power, paired with battery storage, would make our electric grid more resilient to storms
-71% agree that increasing our use of solar power, paired with battery storage, would make electricity more reliable
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