• 56% of U.S. voters say Texas should connect its electric grid with those of other regions, while 24% said the state should continue its independent operation.
• Roughly 2 in 5 voters say Texas utilities, the state’s energy regulator and state government are “very responsible” for last week’s energy crisis.
• Democrats were more likely to say they believe Texas should connect to other regions than retain its current model (71% to 13%), while a plurality of Republicans said the same (41% to 36%).

A recent survey to better understand American attitudes towards fuel economy, particularly among prospective vehicle buyers (those who intend to purchase or lease a vehicle within the next two years) found: 

• Room for improvement: Prospective buyers who currently have a vehicle most commonly selected fuel economy as one of the attributes of their vehicle that has the most room for improvement (42%); the next-highest selections were purchase price (25%) and maintenance costs (25%).
• Importance of fuel economy to vehicle selection: 64% of Americans who are planning to buy or lease a vehicle within the next two years say that fuel economy is ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’ to them when considering what vehicle to get next. Only 6% say it is ‘not very important’ or ‘not important at all.’
• Key expectations for automakers: More than 7 in 10 Americans ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that:
  • automakers should continue to improve fuel economy for all vehicle types;
  • automakers have a responsibility to consumers to improve gas mileage; and
  • each new generation of vehicles available on the market is expected to be more fuel-efficient than the last.

84% of Americans believe climate change harms some people more than others but most Americans do not yet see climate change as a justice issue, according to recent survey research from ecoAmerica. Large, partisan differences exist, with 63% of Democrats viewing climate change as an important justice issue, vs. just 21% of Republicans. Further, Americans are more likely to say they are motivated to take action on climate change because it is "affecting the environment and nature" (63%) than because it is "unfairly impacting some communities and people more than others" (36%) or because it is "impacting me and my community" (34%). 

Research findings suggest that climate advocates must continue to help Americans connect the dots between climate change and a host of critical justice issues. Check out a video discussing research findings here. 

This is a poll from the Pew Research Center around 19 diferent issue areas that should be top priority in 2021. Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand which issues the public views as most important for Congress and the president to prioritize in the coming year. For this analysis, we surveyed 5,360 U.S. adults in January 2021. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. 

• A majority (58%) of Iowa farmers recognize climate change is happening and (at least partially) driven by human activities. 18% understand that it is caused mostly by human activities (vs."more or less equally by natural changes in the environment and human activities") -- an 8 percentage point increase from 2011. 
• A majority of Iowa farmers are "concerned about the potential impacts of climate change on [their] farm operation" (51%); that seed companies should be developing crop varieties adapted to coming changes in weather patterns (64%); and that they should take indiviudal steps to protect their farmland from increased precipitation (58%).
• The University Extension was the most trusted source of information about climate change (as was the case in 2011), with 60% of farmers selecting trust or strongly trust. Scientists and soil and water conservation organizations were both trusted by 50% of respondents, followed closely by farm groups at 47% and family and friends at 46%.

77%  of North Carolinians think the primary goal of the state’s energy policy should be achieving 100% clean energy and a majority (33% strongly; 38% somewhat) support the development of offshore wind farms. 70% of voters polled also believe the buildout of offshore wind along North Carolina’s coast would have a positive impact on jobs, the state’s economy, air quality and climate change.