Issue: Climate Policy

Virginia voters favor solar and wind energy and feel modestly toward nuclear and natural gas. In this July 2021 survey found that 55% of Virginians think that more emphasis should be placed on solar energy. 45% feel the same about wind energy, 38% about natural gas, 37% about nuclear, and 23% about coal. 61% of Virginians agree with an “all the above” energy strategy that prioritizes clean energy. 60% support requiring Virginia utilities to participate in a regional transmission system aimed at “prompting reliability and price-control measures for consumers.” 62% support the major Virginia clean energy law (the “Virginia Clean Energy Economy Act”). Mostly, liberal and Democratic voters significantly support all these things, and conservative and Republican voters are somewhat split on these measures.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including polls on extreme weather, Republicans’ views, drought, and more.

This memo from the White House highlights public polling about key environmental provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF), as well as strong poll numbers for climate-related infrastructure investments that were left out of the bipartisan plan. 
The memo shows that Americans broadly support a range of environmental policies included in the BIF:

Nearly three-quarters of Americans support replacing all lead water pipes and service lines (per Morning Consult)
The majority of Americans support investments to plug abandoned oil and gas wells and restore abandoned mines (per Morning Consult)
63% of Americans support robust proposals for transit and rail investments (per Morning Consult)
61% of Americans support investments to build new electric vehicle charging stations (per Navigator) 
61% of voters support providing more federal assistance to cities and states to improve the resiliency of infrastructure to extreme weather events (per Data for Progress)
60% of Americans support investing in clean energy to help avoid power outages, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and combat climate change (per Yahoo News/YouGov)

Additionally, Americans widely support several climate-related policies that are not included in the BIF:

64% of Americans support incentives to spur clean energy deployment (per Reuters)
Nearly two-thirds of voters support government action to move the country to a fully clean power sector by 2035 (per Data for Progress)
77% of voters support creating a Civilian Climate Corps of conservation and resilience workers (per Data for Progress)

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including polling on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, extreme weather, trust in science, and more.

Voters across the country—in both blue and red states—support the federal government moving the country to 100% clean electricity. This resource displays survey results per state and congressional district. There is considerable support from swing states that are targets for the 2022 midterms, like Arizona (62%), Georgia (60.8%), and Pennsylvania (64%). Clean energy is even popular in traditional fossil fuel states and Republican strongholds. Support for moving to 100% clean electricity by 2035 breaks 60% in states like Texas (60.8%), Indiana (60.1%), and Iowa (62%), with other traditionally red states like Missouri (59.9%), Mississippi (59.3%) and Alabama (58.5%) not far behind. Meanwhile, support for clean energy in blue states like California and Hawaii soars upward of 73%. This resource lists some common GOP talking points against 100% clean electricity that can be useful for advocates to be ready to innoculate voters against.