Colorado

Residents of US western states continue to prioritize conservation of the land, water, wildlife, and their ability to enjoy the outdoors. People in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho were surveyed for this poll. 97% of westerners believe the rising cost of living is a serious issue, and 89% believe the price of gasoline is a serious issue. There has been a 28-point increase since 2016 in the share of westerners who say that people moving to their state is a serious problem (from 47% to 75%). 50% of westerns say that the current shortage of water in the west is a serious crisis. The plurality of westerners (38%) say that businesses use the most water in their state, as compared to farmers and ranchers (34%) and households (25%).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on conservation, climate, and energy issues in Western states + new national polling on the Inflation Reduction Act  + state-level polling in Minnesota about the state’s new clean energy bill and other environmental priorities.

Overwhelming majorities of voters in western states support pro-conservation policies. Wildfires and droughts are especially salient concerns throughout the region. The 2022 poll surveyed registered voters in eight western states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Majorities now say that inadequate water supplies (70%, up 30 points since 2011), the loss of natural areas (55%, +19 since 2011), the loss of habitat for fish and wildlife (55%, +17 since 2011), pollution of rivers, lakes, and streams (54%, +12 since 2011), and climate change (52%, +25 since 2011) are “extremely” or “very” serious problems in their state. Western voters are most acutely concerned about droughts and reduced snowpack (59% “very” concerned) and more frequent and severe wildfires (52% “very” concerned). Nearly three-quarters of western voters (74%) say that drought is an “extremely” or “very” serious problem in their state, an increase of 22 points since 2016. For wildfires, 91% say that “uncontrollable wildfires that threaten homes and property” are a serious problem in their state - an increase of 14 points since 2016.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling about increasing domestic energy production from different sources amid the crisis in Ukraine and a new poll on water-related environmental issues.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new national polling on pollution in the manufacturing sector, investments in clean energy jobs and development, plastic pollution, and climate as a legislative priority + a major new report on environmental attitudes in western states. 

This post includes a roundup of climate + environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from this week’s public polls - including fresh polling on the new Build Back Better framework and its core climate and energy provisions + analysis of climate polling trends throughout the year + new polling on attitudes about climate and clean energy among Latino voters in battleground states and districts.

A collection of interviews, articles, short essays and art - a zine made by youth and community organizers in the Greater Southwest.

This post includes a roundup of climate + environment headlines from this week’s public polls, good data points to highlight, and a full roundup with key takeaways from each poll - including lots of timely new polling on the Build Back Better plan.

HEADLINES

• Yahoo + YouGov - Americans support Biden’s “$3.5 trillion infrastructure plan” by double digits, and a plurality support using the budget reconciliation process to overcome a Republican filibuster (Topline, Crosstabs)
• POLITICO + Morning Consult - Voters widely support tax breaks for renewable energy in the reconciliation bill, even when it’s framed as a Democratic proposal (Topline, Crosstabs)
• Data for Progress + Invest in America - Voters support the Build Back Better plan by a two-to-one margin after reading an explanation of its components; grid modernization continues to be one of the plan’s most popular provisions (Release, Topline)
• LCV + Climate Power - Majorities of voters across Democratic-held U.S. Senate battleground states (AZ, CO, GA, NH + NV) support the Build Back Better plan after a brief description, and majorities also reject the idea of trimming the bill down; top messages focus on jobs, pollution/health, and lowering utility bills (Deck, Memo, AZ Topline, CO Topline, GA Topline, NH Topline, NV Topline)
• Navigator - Climate is rising as a national priority; two in five voters say that weather in their community this summer has been different from past years, and most who have experienced unusual weather cite climate change as the reason (Release, Deck, Topline)
• Data for Progress - “Green jobs” are a confusing concept for voters (Memo)
• Yale Program on Climate Change Communication - Moderates have similar reactions to “climate change” and “extreme weather” as the rationale for emergency preparedness actions and policies, but there are benefits to using “extreme weather” with conservative audiences (Article)

Polling done by Data For Progress in 11 states in August 2020 and released in September 2020 shows widespread popularity of the THRIVE Agenda, a legislative package for economic renewal with eight pillars that centers racial, economic, and climate justice. Polling was done in these states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. 

A majority of voters in each state support each of the eight pillars as do a majority of the voters in 40 competitive House races that were also polled.