Issue: Climate Policy

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including new polling on oil and gas companies’ price gouging; clean energy investment as part of potential new economic legislation in Washington; the links between climate change and public health, pollution, and extreme weather; and Americans’ emotional responses to climate change.

Deep canvassing is a powerful tool to overcome division and find common ground on issues like climate change. The three keys to deep canvassing include: developing a script that works, developing a canvasser key skills training program, and building a team and creating a culture that supports and heals canvassers. This resource contains beginning-to-end tips for how to plan and execute climate deep canvassing. This set of three PDFs includes a summary of Neighbours United’s two-year deep canvass campaign in British Columbia (with details about tactics, timeline, and more); research on the effects of deep canvassing; and sample scripts, volunteer training programs, tips for data management, and more. Learn more in the Executive Summary and check out their Toolkit with plenty of linked resources and documents to apply to your climate deep canvassing program.

With six months until the 2022 election, most young voters are frustrated with the lack of progress and pessimistic about the future. Voters under 35 say things are not going well with respect to virtually every issue facing their generations, from the economy and health care costs to abortion rights and climate change. Just 22% believe things are excellent or good with regard to climate change. Further, 80% support “Reducing carbon emissions and addressing the impact of climate change.” With few exceptions, they don’t trust either political party in the country to handle their concerns. 90% say things in the country are on the wrong track. Overwhelming majorities of young people say that things are not going well with respect to each issue area tested in this survey, with the exception of the right to vote (55% positive, 45% negative) and protecting LGBTQ rights (split 49% positive, 51% negative). They are the most negative about money in politics (5% positive) and healthcare costs (7% positive). There are some notable differences in assessments of problems by gender and race/ethnicity. These young voters overwhelmingly say the trust the Democratic Party more than Republican Party with many issues. This poll asked more questions about assessments of problems and policies.

People don’t buy as many electric vehicles (EVs) because they misperceive the mileage driving range of the EV car batteries. However, correcting these misperceptions in people can reduce their concern about vehicle range and increased their stated willingness to pay for EVs (specifically those with battery ranges between 60 and 240 miles, relative to a 50-mile-range baseline model). When this study provided people with this accurate EV driving range information, it increased people’s willingness to pay for EVs more than did providing information about how accessible vehicle charging stations are. The authors argue that this research can be turned into political messaging about EVs.