This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including on the infrastructure required for the electric vehicle transition and Californians supporting climate action at the state level.

See this webpage for links to all the following resources.

HEADLINES

Pew – Americans are skeptical that the country will build the infrastructure required for the electric vehicle transition [Article]

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) – Californians overwhelmingly support climate action at the state level; state residents widely back offshore wind and oppose offshore drilling, as they understand that protecting coastal areas is important for the state economy and quality of life [Release, Full Report, Crosstabs, Time Trends]

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Advocates need to show everyday Americans that the electric vehicle transition is feasible. Pew finds that most Americans are not confident that the country will build enough charging stations and other infrastructure to support a large number of EVs on the roads, and polls consistently show that concerns about the number of charging stations rank on par with vehicle costs as a barrier for consumers to consider electric vehicles. As with other aspects of the clean energy transition, it’s important not just to promise progress on EV infrastructure to the public but to demonstrate that progress is well underway – including by lifting up news stories and delivering hard facts and figures about the rapid increase in charging stations. 
   
• Clean energy advocates are pulling ahead in the debate on jobs, but costs remain a major sticking point. Polling by PPIC in California finds that state residents are more inclined to believe that climate action will create jobs in the state than cost jobs in the state, which mirrors what we’ve been seeing recently in national polling. However, Californians express pessimism about the effects of climate action on gas prices and say that they’re unwilling to pay more for cleaner electricity – which is also consistent with national polling. Climate advocates’ economic arguments are gaining traction when it comes to jobs, but we need to be clear-eyed that we are currently losing the debate on consumer costs and need to devote more of our communications resources to clarifying how the clean energy transition will benefit consumers.
   

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

• [Issue Priority] More Americans name climate change and the environment as the single “most important issue” to them than any other issue aside from inflation/prices, health care, and the economy/jobs [The Economist + YouGov]
   
• [California] 83% of Californians support allowing wind power and wave energy projects off the California coast [PPIC]
   
• [California] 77% of Californians recognize that climate change has contributed to California’s recent extreme weather events [PPIC]
   
• [California] 73% of Californians support the state law that requires California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2030 [PPIC]
   
• [California] 68% of Californians support the state law that requires 100 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by the year 2045 [PPIC]
   
• [California] 66% of Californians support the state’s cape-and-trade system [PPIC]