This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including a new wave of Yale and George Mason’s long-running “Climate Change in the American Mind” survey, new battleground polling on climate change and clean energy in the presidential race, and new polling on sustainable aquaculture.

See this webpage for links to all the following resources.

HEADLINES

Yale + GMU – Steady majorities of voters say that clean energy and global warming should be high priorities for the President and Congress, and voters overwhelmingly prefer pro-climate candidates over candidates who oppose climate action [Website, Full Report]

[AZ, MI, PA] Climate Power – Climate and clean energy messaging continues to shift the presidential race among key audiences in battleground states, as voters don’t understand how much Biden and Trump differ in their approaches to these issues [AZ Deck, MI Deck, PA Deck]

EDF – Voters in coastal states and areas widely support research into sustainable aquaculture as a way to grow more seafood healthily and sustainably in the U.S. [Release, Report]

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Voters consistently and overwhelmingly say that they prefer pro-climate candidates this year. Polls have been very consistent this cycle in showing that voters want candidates for office to support action on climate change, and new data from Yale and GMU provides more clear evidence of this: by a greater than four-to-one margin (62%-15%), voters say that they prefer a candidate who supports action on global warming over a candidate who opposes action. Climate change also has the potential to be a wedge issue with moderate Republicans this year, as Yale and GMU find that less conservative Republicans overwhelmingly favor candidates who support action on global warming.
   
• Voters don’t recognize how much Biden and Trump differ in their approaches to climate and environmental issues. In several recent battleground state surveys, Climate Power finds that key audiences shift their presidential votes in response to climate and clean energy messaging as this messaging fills in blind spots that voters have about Biden’s and Trump’s respective records. Specifically, voters tend to assume that Biden hasn’t been able to accomplish much on climate change and tend to believe that Trump’s policies and record on the environment and climate change are more neutral than harmful.
   

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

• [Climate Change + Elections] By a greater than four-to-one margin, voters would prefer to vote for a candidate for public office who supports action on global warming (62%) over a candidate who opposes action on global warming (15%) [Yale + GMU]
   
• [IRA] 74% of voters support the Inflation Reduction Act after reading a brief description of it [Yale + GMU]
   
• [IRA] 77% of voters support providing tax rebates to people who purchase energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels [Yale + GMU]
   
• [IRA] 74% of voters support tax credits or rebates to encourage people to buy electric appliances, such as heat pumps and induction stoves, that run on electricity instead of oil or gas [Yale + GMU]
   
• [Clean Energy Transition] 66% of voters support transitioning the U.S. economy from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050 [Yale + GMU]
   
• [Justice] 80% of voters support strengthening enforcement of industrial pollution limits in low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution [Yale + GMU]
   
• [Clean Energy Siting] 65% of voters support building solar farms in their local area [Yale + GMU]
   
• [Clean Energy Siting] 58% of voters support building wind farms in their local area [Yale + GMU]