Public Resource
Poll: New Poll Shows Voters Strongly Support Conservation Efforts in the West but Are Increasingly Frustrated with Lack of Action
Center for Western Priorities

Voters in Western States are attracted to elected leaders who want to protect public lands, invest in clean energy, and respond to climate change. Voters in these states widely agree that climate change is fundamentally changing life in the West. Notably, over three-quarters of Western voters (78%) agree that the effects of climate change are “fundamentally changing life in the West” - including overwhelming majorities of Democrats (94%) and independents (81%) and more than half of Republicans (54%). And looking ahead to November, over four in five Western voters (81%) say that public lands, parks, and wildlife issues are important to their decisions about who to vote for in the midterm elections - including large majorities of Democrats (87%), independent (81%), and Republicans (73%). This four-state poll of voters in Western States finds widespread agreement among Western voters about the needs to conserve public lands, develop clean energy sources, and protect Western communities from extreme weather: 91% agree that leaders need to do more to plan for more severe droughts and wildfires; 81% agree that leaders need to do more to protect public lands for hunting, fishing, and recreation; 78% agree that leaders need to do more to support the clean energy industries in their states; 71% agree that leaders aren’t doing enough to reverse the effects of climate change.