This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new national and swing state polling on the IRA’s tax credits and offshore drilling + new research on the terminology of climate change + new polling in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Pennsylvania voters widely support expanding clean energy in the state, as most believe that it will bring benefits for people’s health and future generations. 78% of Pennsylvania voters support the state “significantly” increasing its use of clean energy sources like wind and solar to generate electricity, with around half (48%) strongly in favor of this proposal. Support for clean energy expansion also extends across party lines in the state, with 93% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and 59% of Republicans all in favor. Additionally, Pennsylvanians are far more likely to anticipate positive than negative impacts from clean energy expansion on the economy (49% positive / 23% negative), the reliability of electricity (47% positive / 21% negative), and the affordability of electricity (46% positive / 25% negative).

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.

Voters in key states want stronger limits on methane emissions, and believe that implementing technology to limit methane pollution is more likely to create jobs than reduce them. By a 68%-26% margin, battleground state voters support stronger EPA limits on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. By a 69%-27% margin, Pennsylvania voters support stronger EPA limits on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. By a 66%-28% margin, Texas voters support stronger EPA limits on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. By a 55%-41% margin, battleground state voters are more likely to agree that stronger methane pollution limits will create jobs than reduce jobs. By a 56%-42% margin, Pennsylvania voters are more likely to agree that stronger methane pollution limits will create jobs than reduce jobs. By a 58%-42% margin, Texas voters are more likely to agree that stronger methane pollution limits will create jobs than reduce jobs.

Amid Farm Bill negotiations, voters in key states are more likely to support political candidates who want to help farmers to adapt to extreme weather and to be part of the solution to climate change. Voters in the four states are highly motivated in their support for programs that would help farmers adapt to extreme weather and mitigate climate change. Majorities in Colorado (69%), Georgia (66%), Michigan (65%) and Pennsylvania (70%) said they would be more likely to support a candidate for office who offered ideas along those lines. Large majorities in each of the four states, upwards of 76% of voters, identified corporate consolidation that squeezes small and midsize farmers and food businesses as a threat in their state. Notably, that jumped to 89% of households with a farmer. Majorities in every state, with a high of 89% in Pennsylvania, supported increasing investments that help small and midsize farmers compete with large corporate agribusiness. Very large majorities of voters supported programs that help farmers protect water quality and keep more carbon and nutrients in their soil, from 86% in Georgia to a high of 88% in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Majorities of voters in each state – as many as 68% in Michigan – and 66% of voters with a farmer in the house said water pollution caused by agricultural runoff is a threat to their state.

While partisanship remains strong among the rural electorate, more than one-third (37%) of rural voters appear "swingable" in future elections, depending on resonant policy proposals and messaging. Three messaging points — lowering prices; bringing good-paying jobs to local communities; and a populist message focused on corporate greed — received such broad support that they rivaled voters’ agreement on core values like family and freedom. Read additional analysis in the Daily Yonder's coverage.

The majority of registered voters in three battleground states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan) support the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Majorities across all three states believe the IRA is good for their health, energy bills, and home energy efficiency. Bipartisan majorities support the IRA and Solar for All, but there is a large partisan gap: In each state, Democrats are about 30 percentage points more likely to support the IRA. Political and economic characteristics are important predictors of perceptions of IRA benefits: Democrats, middle/high income voters, and homeowners are more likely to believe the IRA’s appliance rebates benefit individuals “like you.” Voters are most interested in local investments in energy efficiency, public transit, and parks: 2 in 3 voters want to see local projects focused on improving energy efficiency in homes and commercial buildings.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new national polling on the Canadian wildfires, the Supreme Court decision to gut clean water protections in Sackett v. EPA, and offshore wind + new polling in Pennsylvania about the implementation of the Biden administration’s clean energy plan.

Just five policies across the economy can dramatically cut state greenhouse gas emissions. These include clean electricity standards; zero-emission vehicle standards; clean building equipment standards; industrial efficiency and emissions standards; and standards for methane detection, capture, and destruction. This report evaluates emissions trajectories and policy impacts for six states: Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These states have widely varying emissions profiles. For example, Louisiana’s emissions are dominated by the industrial sector, while in Michigan, the building sector is a significant contributor. In New Mexico, home to significant oil and gas extraction, methane is a major source of GHG emissions.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on voters’ reactions to arguments from the two parties on climate change; the impact of climate change and the environment on battleground voters’ decisions in the upcoming midterms; an experiment in communicating about human-caused climate change using a “heat-trapping blanket” metaphor; Americans’ personal experiences with climate change; and the widening generational gap in Republicans’ environmental attitudes.