Location: New Hampshire

From our July 2025 study with The Alliance for Climate Transition (ACT), we found that residents in the US Northeast have little familiarity with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), but are intrigued by the technology when it is framed around improved electricity reliability and lower utility bills. However, those perceptions are endangered by concerns that BESS may endanger their homes or entail high upfront installation costs.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including a new report from Pew on Americans’ attitudes toward different energy sources, new battleground polling on a potential reconciliation package in Congress, and new polling about carbon removal.

Legislation along the lines of the Build Back Better Act is overwhelmingly popular in key U.S. Senate battlegrounds, with clear electoral benefits for incumbents if it passes. On the specific question of how support for this legislation would translate to electoral benefits for incumbents who back it, the poll finds that voters in the four battlegrounds (Nevada, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Arizona) are 23 to 33 points more likely to say that the legislation would make them more inclined to vote for their incumbent than less inclined. 14% of those who do not currently approve of the incumbent say they would be more likely to vote for them if they help pass this legislation. Across the four states, 62% say they would be more motivated and enthusiastic about voting in the elections this November if Congress took action and actually passed this legislation. Democrats in particular would be more motivated to vote (81%), including many Democrats who currently express a lower degree of enthusiasm about voting.