This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on ESG/responsible investing, offshore wind, electric vehicles, and the Green New Deal.

HEADLINES

Unlocking America’s Future + Data for Progress
Voters widely support “responsible investing” rules from the SEC that require businesses to disclose climate-related financial risks; few are hearing negative information about ESG [Article, Crosstabs]

[Coastal Counties] Turn Forward + Climate Nexus
Americans in coastal counties have overwhelmingly positive attitudes about offshore wind energy and support offshore wind near where they live; energy independence is a strong rationale for expanding offshore wind, though there are concerns about impacts on wildlife [Heatmap Article, Press Release, Topline]

Data for Progress
Voters consistently support the idea of a Green New Deal when they learn what it would contain [Article, Crosstabs]

EV Politics Project
Cultural attitudes drive the partisan split on electric vehicles, as Democrats and Republicans disagree more about whether electric vehicles are for “people like them” than on any of the specific benefits or downsides of EVs [InsideEVs Article]

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Education is the best way to combat fearmongering about the Green New Deal and ESG. Recent polls by Data for Progress indicate that the Green New Deal and ESG are not the toxic terms that environmental advocates feared they would become in the face of onslaughts from opposition media. Voters support both of these concepts when they learn basic information about them and, importantly, ESG (or “responsible investing”) and the Green New Deal both stand up to scrutiny as voters continue to support them after seeing opposition arguments. While the force of opposition campaigns gave some advocates pause about publicly embracing these ideas, the reality is that any idea will be unpopular if the public only hears from its opponents. ESG and the Green New Deal continue to hold intrinsic appeal to voters, and it’s important for advocates to continue to defend them on their merits instead of ceding the debates on these topics to opponents of climate action.
U.S. energy independence should be front and center in messaging about clean energy expansion. In a poll of Americans in coastal counties, Turn Forward and Climate Nexus find that U.S. energy independence is the strongest rationale for expanding offshore wind energy. This is consistent with lots of polling in the last two years, as energy independence has become an increasingly salient benefit of the clean energy transition. Recent polling on EVs from the EV Politics Project, meanwhile, finds that cultural factors continue to be the main barrier to EV interest among Republicans. Patriotic arguments about U.S. energy independence have proven resonance with conservative audiences, and it is critical to change conservatives’ cultural perceptions of EVs in order to bring them on board with the EV transition. Re-framing EV purchases as the patriotic choice to support U.S. manufacturing and the U.S. auto industry could go a long way to achieving this goal.

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

[Responsible Investing/ESG] 71% of voters support “responsible investing” after a brief description of it that explains that “responsible investing involves considering environmental, social, and governance issues when making investment decisions” [Unlocking America’s Future + Data for Progress]
[Responsible Investing/ESG] By a greater than three-to-one margin (66%-21%), voters support a proposed SEC rule requiring disclosure of climate-related financial risks after reading an explanation of the proposed rule [Unlocking America’s Future + Data for Progress]
[Offshore Wind] 66% of Americans in coastal counties have favorable attitudes about offshore wind energy, while just 18% feel unfavorably about it [Turn Forward + Climate Nexus]
[Offshore Wind] 63% of Americans in coastal counties support the construction of offshore wind farms in U.S. waters near where they live, while just 23% oppose offshore wind farms near them [Turn Forward + Climate Nexus]
[Offshore Wind] 61% of Americans in coastal counties say that expanding offshore wind in U.S. waters would be good for U.S. energy independence [Turn Forward + Climate Nexus]
[Offshore Wind] 59% of Americans in coastal counties support the U.S. government selling more leases to expand development of offshore wind farms [Turn Forward + Climate Nexus]
[Green New Deal] 65% of voters support the Green New Deal after reading a brief, one-paragraph description of it [Data for Progress]
[Green New Deal] By a greater than two-to-one margin (62% support / 26% oppose), voters support their member of Congress cosponsoring the Green New Deal resolution when it is reintroduced in Congress [Data for Progress]
[Green New Deal] By a two-to-one margin (57% more likely / 28% less likely), voters say that they are more likely to vote to reelect their member of Congress if they cosponsor the Green New Deal [Data for Progress]