This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ energy and vehicle preferences, new polling on polluter accountability amid Trump’s push to grant oil and gas companies legal immunity for their climate damages, and new polling of AAPI Americans.

Headlines

Gallup – Americans continue to prefer clean energy over fossil fuels, despite a recent surge in support for fossil fuels among Republicans; public support for nuclear energy is at a near-record high [Article]

Gallup – A steady one-half of Americans say that they’re open to purchasing an electric vehicle; hybrids have more appeal than fully electric vehicles, especially among Republicans [Article]

Fossil Free Media + Data for Progress – Trump’s executive order to shield polluters from accountability runs counter to public opinion, as bipartisan majorities say that fossil fuel companies should help pay for climate damages and voters widely oppose legal immunity for the industry [Article, Crosstabs]

[AAPI] AAPI Data + AP-NORC – Climate change is one of Democrats’ clearest issue strengths with AAPI Americans, who widely disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue [Website, Report, Topline]

Key Takeaways

Support for nuclear energy is continuing to rise, with every political group shifting more in favor of it in recent years. For the past several years, Americans’ energy attitudes have been defined by a growing partisan divide as Democrats resolutely prioritize solar and wind energy and Republicans have trended against these clean energy sources in favor of fossil fuels.

Nuclear energy has become something of a middle ground in the debate over the country’s energy choices, with growing support from across the political spectrum. Gallup finds that support for nuclear energy as an electricity source is at a near-record high in their tracking going back to 2001, as support for it has risen sharply among Republicans and independents and also incrementally among Democrats as carbon emissions have become the dominant factor in progressives’ energy preferences.

Trump risks alienating even his own voters by shielding fossil fuel companies from accountability. For the most part, Trump has pursued energy policies that are unpopular overall but supported by most Republican voters–such as expanding offshore drilling and withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. However, with his recent attempt to grant legal immunity to polluters via executive order this week, he is further narrowing the constituency for his energy policies.

It’s possible that Trump’s base will warm to the idea of polluter immunity in the same way that they have adopted other unpopular positions that Trump has taken, but the idea has remarkably little baseline appeal. Fossil Free Media and Data for Progress find that only around one-quarter of voters, including less than half of Republicans, support the idea of granting legal immunity to oil and gas companies to “shield them from being sued for climate disaster damages.” To the contrary, the overwhelming majority of voters–including most Republicans–continue to say that oil and gas companies should pay a share of costs for climate-related damages.

Good Data Points to Highlight

• [Clean Energy] By a 17-point margin, Americans say that the U.S. should emphasize the development of alternative energy such as wind and solar power to solve the nation’s energy problems (56%) rather than the production of more oil, gas and coal supplies (39%) [Gallup]
• [ANWR] By a 26-point margin, Americans say that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska should not be opened up for oil exploration (35% should / 61% should not) [Gallup]
• [Polluter Accountability] 82% of voters, including 70% of Republicans, are concerned about oil and gas companies making record profits while consumers face rising energy costs [Fossil Free Media + Data for Progress]
• [Polluter Accountability] 71% of voters, including the majority of Republicans (55%), support requiring oil and gas companies to pay a share of costs for climate-related damages [Fossil Free Media + Data for Progress]
• [Polluter Accountability] By a 38-point margin (65% oppose / 27% support), voters oppose legal immunity for oil and gas companies that would shield them from being sued for climate disaster damages [Fossil Free Media + Data for Progress]
• [Paris Climate Agreement] Americans disapprove of the decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement by a 14-point margin (32% approve / 46% disapprove) [Pew]