Issue: Environmental/Climate Justice

Be careful about emphasizing climate threats, as this can increase racism and xenophobia among certain people. People who are informed about the negative effects of climate change (such as wildfires, floods, resource scarcity, etc.) may become more hostile towards immigrants and less likely to support or value the pursuit of racial equity. This effect was stronger among those with a pre-existing belief that some groups in society should be able to dominate others.

Survey of Detroit adults sought to measure concern for and perception of the impacts of climate change and other environmental threats like pollution, flooding, and storms, how these threats impact different racial/ethnic groups, and how adults’ views on these issues vary by race and ethnicity. 

From a nationally representative poll of registered voters fielded from Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2020, more than eight in 10 (82%) say achieving 100% clean energy should be the primary goal of U.S. energy policy, and more than six in 10 (63%) say developing more renewables should be the priority when seeking to address U.S. energy needs, compared to gas (15%) or nuclear (9%). Almost six in 10 (58%) say increasing production of renewables is more likely to create a greater number of good jobs than increasing production of fossil fuels (25%). 

From a nationally representative poll of registered voters fielded on Oct. 13, 2020, three-quarters (73%) of voters say they are worried about climate change, including 87% of Black Protestants, 82% of nonwhite Catholics, 77% of white Catholics, 76% of Jews, and 57% of white evangelical Protestants. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of voters want a multi-trillion-dollar federal economic stimulus to invest in clean energy infrastructure as part of COVID-19 recovery, including 72% of Black Protestants and 54% of white evangelical Protestants. 

A national survey conducted in late August found that:

The coronavirus pandemic has created the urgency to act in a way that climate change hasn’t. 
Despite the fact that voters are less concerned about climate, they still want robust clean energy investments in economic stimulus, seeing that as a great way to create jobs and better than investing in fossil fuels.
Because the urgency to act is already high and voters strongly and broadly support clean energy stimulus, we can still win.
Communications should focus on the need to recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic and the ways clean energy investments can create jobs and growth.
Environmental justice messages should be a part of this: They connect powerfully with communities of color, and there is no apparent backlash effect with white audiences.