Audience: Latino/a/x / Hispanics

In 2020, there were about 6 million Afro-Latino adults in the United States. They made up about 2% of the U.S. adult population and 12% of the adult Latino population. About one-in-seven Afro-Latinos – or an estimated 800,000 adults – do not identify as Hispanic. The life experiences of Afro-Latinos are shaped by race, skin tone and other factors, in ways that differ from other Hispanics. The multiple dimensions of Latino identity reflect the long colonial history of Latin America, during which mixing occurred among indigenous Americans, White Europeans, Asians and enslaved people from Africa.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including new polling on clean energy investment as part of Biden’s economic plan; “direct pay” reforms to better incentivize clean energy production; electric vehicles and ethanol; and state-level polls in California and Massachusetts.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including a major new report from the Pew Research Center about the clean energy transition, two new polls assessing Americans’ climate attitudes from conservative perspectives, and new polling about energy insecurity among low-income Americans.

Integrated, year-round community organizing is necessary to create people-powered political representation in the Midwest. Midwestern state economies have destabilized, and this has caused shifting politics, such as formerly Democratic or swing states now voting mostly for Republicans. This report dispels multiple myths about Midwestern politics, such as: some states swung irreversibly to the right; Midwest states can be won either by engaging only people of color, or by frantically chasing white Obama/Trump voters; retail politics can work in the Midwest by “treating” white voters with messages about the economy and Black voters with messages about race, while ignoring Native, Latino, AAPI, and other voters; and we can win Presidential, US Senate, or Gubernatorial races by dumping billions of dollars into paid advertisements each cycle, rather than building the human capacity to lead and govern. This report argues for intentionally, consistently organizing people into membership organizations, unions, and community institutions in order to move constituencies of people into political action and create political homes. Overall, this report argues for “state ecosystems” of democratically accountable movement groups to engage in electoral politics.

BIPOC Americans generally favor renewable energy over natural gas. This survey from February 2022 found that even though 44% of BIPOC respondents considered natural gas to be “clean energy” (compared to 24% who did not), majorities still believe that increasing domestic production of wind and solar energy is the better way to create good jobs (62% to 19%), can provide cheaper electricity (33% to 26%), and is more reliable (35% to 18%), compared to natural gas. Further, respondents were more likely to say they currently use and would prefer (in the future) to use electric instead of gas appliances. This survey asked lots more questions about the use of and views about electric appliances and energy sources of electricity.

Energy insecurity is prevalent among low-income households in the U.S. More than 28% of low-income households surveyed recently reported being unable to pay their energy bill, and nearly 20% received a disconnection notice. Black and Hispanic households experience higher levels of energy insecurity: from November 2021 through January 2022, almost 40% of Hispanic respondents and more than 26% of Black respondents were not able to pay an energy bill. Energy insecurity is especially widespread among households with children. Households often forgo other basic household needs to pay their energy bills. To cope with the expense of energy, households often adjust the temperature in their homes to uncomfortable levels and accumulate utility debt.

Highlighting the negative health effects of using natural gas in the home may be the best way to increase opposition to gas. One recent experiment compared the potential effects of different frames about gas. Democratic and Democratic-leaning respondents who saw ads about negative health impacts from gas in homes were 11.8% less likely to say gas is a clean form of energy. Hispanic respondents, in particular, were more likely to be interested in purchasing appliances that don’t use gas, such as electric and induction stove tops, after viewing ads focused on individual consumer choice. In addition to health and consumer choice, this advertising experiment also tested the effects of other frames, such as advances in technology, safety, green jobs, industry deception, and fracking. This advertising experiment found no effects of the ads on the views of any other demographic groups.

When I joined the climate movement in 2013, fossil fuel divestment campaigns were surging across the country on college and university campuses. At the time, I was a student and compelled by the narrative of stigmatizing the fossil fuel industry and taking away its social license to operate. The vision that captured my imagination of what is possible centered on people and building a world where everyone can live a dignified life.
The foundation of this vision embodies roots from the environmental justice movement. From Native people’s resistance of colonization to Latinx farmworkers’ determination for safe workplace conditions to Black and brown communities demands for basic human rights: clean air and water; organizing for what people deserve has always been the pathway for how we win.
So what does it take to do the necessary and bold work of multiracial, cross-class organizing in the climate movement?
The Lab recently engaged in dialogue on this question at Celebrating Our Community Power. Over 80 members joined in and learned from one another. Below, we highlight the most relevant insights that came out of the discussion and recommendations for how you can apply them to your work.