Pennsylvania

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on recent hurricanes and the government’s disaster response, new polling on renewable energy and grid expansion, and new state polls about energy issues in Pennsylvania, California, and Texas.

Pennsylvanians have mixed attitudes about fracking. Voters in the state overwhelmingly want stronger regulations on the industry, and around four in ten support phasing out fracking completely. Voters in the state are about three times as likely to have positive attitudes than negative attitudes about the clean energy industry (62% favorable / 21% unfavorable). Specific types of clean energy, including solar energy (80% favorable / 11% unfavorable) and wind energy (73% favorable / 16% unfavorable), are even more popular. Meanwhile, voters are closely divided in their attitudes about the oil and gas industry (45% favorable / 44% unfavorable). And while Pennsylvanians have overwhelmingly positive opinions about natural gas (75% favorable / 14% unfavorable), they are more split in their opinions about fracking (44% favorable / 37% unfavorable). More than four in ten voters (83%), including 71% of Republicans, support federal subsidies for clean energy development. Pennsylvanians are also far more supportive of the government spending taxpayer dollars on wind and solar development (84% support / 16% oppose) than on fracking and pipeline development (62% support / 38% oppose).

Pennsylvania voters widely support expanding clean energy in the state, as most believe that it will bring benefits for people’s health and future generations. 78% of Pennsylvania voters support the state “significantly” increasing its use of clean energy sources like wind and solar to generate electricity, with around half (48%) strongly in favor of this proposal. Support for clean energy expansion also extends across party lines in the state, with 93% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and 59% of Republicans all in favor. Additionally, Pennsylvanians are far more likely to anticipate positive than negative impacts from clean energy expansion on the economy (49% positive / 23% negative), the reliability of electricity (47% positive / 21% negative), and the affordability of electricity (46% positive / 25% negative).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new national and swing state polling on the IRA’s tax credits and offshore drilling + new research on the terminology of climate change + new polling in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and South Carolina.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new national polling on the Canadian wildfires, the Supreme Court decision to gut clean water protections in Sackett v. EPA, and offshore wind + new polling in Pennsylvania about the implementation of the Biden administration’s clean energy plan.

The majority of registered voters in three battleground states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan) support the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Majorities across all three states believe the IRA is good for their health, energy bills, and home energy efficiency. Bipartisan majorities support the IRA and Solar for All, but there is a large partisan gap: In each state, Democrats are about 30 percentage points more likely to support the IRA. Political and economic characteristics are important predictors of perceptions of IRA benefits: Democrats, middle/high income voters, and homeowners are more likely to believe the IRA’s appliance rebates benefit individuals “like you.” Voters are most interested in local investments in energy efficiency, public transit, and parks: 2 in 3 voters want to see local projects focused on improving energy efficiency in homes and commercial buildings.