New Jersey

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on voters’ relative trust in the two parties to handle climate change and the environment, as well as new polling and consumer data about electric vehicles.

 

HEADLINES

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.

Green Dash Northeast is a free tool that displays state-level data related to emissions and energy in the Northeast. This tool may be useful for staff at environmental NGOs, state and local governments, and community-based organizations seeking to better understand the status of climate and energy initiatives throughout the region. Green Dash Northeast aggregates publicly available data to present useful emissions and energy-related metrics. Metrics are displayed consistently for all Northeastern states, which allows for meaningful comparisons between states and additive regional values. Categories of data include: greenhouse gas emissions, electric energy, energy efficiency, non-electric fuels, battery storage, clean energy jobs, energy burdens and rates.

In 2020, a group of New Jersey organizers helped get the country's most progressive environmental justice legislation at the time passed. The short film "A Big Win for Environmental Justice Organizers" follows community-based activists from Ironbound Community Corporation in moving the statewide legislation forward. The Lab hosted a conversation with the contributors, sharing their insights and lessons learned from a community organizing perspective, so that other local groups feel empowered to take on statewide initiatives as well. 

In 2020, a group of New Jersey organizers helped get the country's most progressive environmental justice legislation at the time passed - S232. This documentary delves into the role of community-based activists from Ironbound Community Corporation in moving the statewide legislation forward. By focusing on the community organizing perspective, this film offers insights and lessons learned from ICC so that other local groups feel empowered to take on statewide initiatives as well. Given community organizers know their neighbors, experience the impact of environmental injustice firsthand, and understand how policies affect people's lives, they are the experts whose voices are critically needed in halls of power. The accompanying discussion guide attached provides a road map for community organizers across the country who hope to translate local relationships into statewide legislative victories.

Survey data from 19 competitive House districts across the US revealed strong support (59%), across party lines, for the American Jobs Plan. Notably, the provisions that would address the climate crisis garnered even stronger support than the overall infrastructure plan did.

Among the specific provisions designed to address the climate crisis:

• 82% of voters support investments to rebuild roads and bridges and modernize public transportation to ensure it is cleaner and able to serve more people.
• 81% of voters support overhauling our country’s drinking water infrastructure.
• 70% of voters support addressing the challenge of climate change by shifting to greater use of clean energy, reducing carbon pollution from vehicles and industry, and making homes and buildings more energy efficient.
• 69% of voters support investments in clean energy such as wind and solar power by extending tax credits to spur innovation and manufacturing.
• 61% of voters support investments in electric vehicles and charging stations to reduce pollution and help more Americans buy clean cars.

Key findings of a survey (phone and online) of US voters, with oversamples in key states include:​

• Voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support government investments in clean energy technologies in order to rebuild the economy (77%), create good jobs (76%), and eliminate the carbon emissions that cause climate change (75%). 
• There's a widespread belief (75%) that investing in clean energy technologies will have economic benefits – including for "regular people." 
• And also that by developing new clean technologies, we can replace many of the manufacturing and other blue-collar jobs that the country has lost over the last few decades (72%)
• Strong support for various approaches to boost and develop specific clean energy technologies such as clean steel and cement, clean jet fuels, and energy storage and transmission.
• Voters support investing $75 billion in clean energy tech RD&D as part of the upcoming infrastructure bill.         

Different parts of the country see various kinds of extreme weather as most concerning, perceptions which are largely in line with actual major disasters that have occurred in those regions. This report provides concern profiles for the 18 largest states, drawing on survey data from 2018 and 2019. Over half of Americans see such extreme weather events posting a high or moderate risk to their community in the coming decade, and two thirds see a climate link to US weather (though only a third think climate affects our weather "a lot").