This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on opposition to government shutdowns and repealing Inflation Reduction Act funding as well as understanding of Biden's clean energy policies.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans acknowledge that President Biden has funded clean energy projects, making it one of the most widely recognized accomplishments of his presidency.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on support for climate justice policies, the EPA and FDA, climate impacts, and climate as a top priority among young people.

Voters don’t want a government shutdown, or proposed cuts to clean water and IRA implementation. 75% of voters oppose proposed cuts to funding to provide safe and clean drinking water and to protect children from lead poisoning. 59% of voters oppose proposed cuts to government investments from the Inflation Reduction Act to combat the climate crisis. 58% of voters disagree that the U.S. should put more tax subsidies into traditional fossil fuels and take away benefits for investing in clean energy like wind and solar power.

Americans are largely unfamiliar with the concept of “climate justice,” but support the goals of climate justice and key climate justice policies when they learn about them. 81% of voters support creating more parks and green spaces in low-income communities and communities of color. 77% of voters support strengthening enforcement of industrial pollution limits in low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution. 75% of voters support developing a national program to train people from low-income communities and communities of color for new jobs in the renewable energy industry. 53% of voters support the goals of climate justice after reading a brief description of the concept.

Recent focus groups underscore widespread enthusiasm for clean energy and urgency for electrification in New England. In the summer of 2023, Barr Foundation sponsored six focus groups with homeowners in each New England state and a final group with renters to gain further insights. They were particularly interested in discussing electrification, which has become a central part of climate strategies in the region. In alignment with the climate poll, respondents had an overwhelmingly positive perception of clean energy, but they also had questions about implementation, the costs of the energy transition, and how their own lives might change in the future. Many respondents viewed the clean energy transition as inevitable; they encouraged incentives and policies at the state and federal level that further clean energy development. A factor which gave participants pause was grid reliability; participants were concerned about the ability of the electric system to handle the transition of the power supply and the addition of many heat pumps and electric vehicles. Residents’ hesitation to adopt clean technologies is tied to costs, and most are unaware of incentives that are already available to them (or will be soon). People like heat pumps (once they know what they are). Rooftop solar is considered a luxury. Participants like the idea of clean heat standards+.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans' beliefs about recycling (among and other climate actions) and New Jersey residents' preferences for off-shore wind energy.

Declining support for offshore wind in New Jersey shows the dangers of misinformation about renewable energy. Just over half of New Jersey residents (54%) favor placing electricity-generating wind farms off the state’s coast while 40% oppose this action. In 2019, wind energy support stood at a much higher 76%, with just 15% opposed. Prior to that, support for offshore wind farms was even higher, ranging between 80% and 84% in polls taken from 2008 to 2011.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on conservative groups' environmental ideas, extreme weather, messaging about climate justice, and western voters' conservation preferences. 

Voters overwhelmingly want to protect the climate, clean energy, and environmental justice policies that conservative groups' “Project 2025” plan calls to cut. 75% of voters say that the next president should keep current protections in place for national parks and monuments, preserving these and other public lands from oil and gas drilling. 69% of voters say that the next president should prioritize environmental justice and take action to clean up pollution and improve public health in disadvantaged communities. 66% of voters say that the next president should protect the consumer tax credits and instant rebates that were included in the recently passed clean energy plan and which can lower energy costs for families by $1,800.