Massachusetts
Poll: Views on Offshore Wind in New England
Voters in Southern New England widely agree that their states should work together to expand offshore wind in the region. Lower energy prices are a critical benefit to highlight. Majorities of voters in Connecticut (68%), Massachusetts (75%), and Rhode Island (67%) support their states transitioning from getting most of their heating and electricity from gas to generating heating and electricity from entirely renewable energy sources. Solar, wind, and hydropower are all overwhelmingly popular energy sources in Southern New England. Large majorities in each state favor using more solar power (78%+), hydropower (74%+), and wind power (70%+) to generate electricity. Voters in each state, including residents of coastal counties, widely back proposed tri-state collaboration to expand offshore wind in the region. Majorities of voters in Connecticut (75%), Massachusetts (77%), and Rhode Island (67%) support the three states working together to build offshore wind farms to generate electricity. Across states, there is virtually no difference in support for the proposal between residents of coastal counties (72%) and residents of non-coastal counties (74%).
Green Dash Northeast
Green Dash Northeast is a free tool that displays state-level data related to emissions and energy in the Northeast. This tool may be useful for staff at environmental NGOs, state and local governments, and community-based organizations seeking to better understand the status of climate and energy initiatives throughout the region. Green Dash Northeast aggregates publicly available data to present useful emissions and energy-related metrics. Metrics are displayed consistently for all Northeastern states, which allows for meaningful comparisons between states and additive regional values. Categories of data include: greenhouse gas emissions, electric energy, energy efficiency, non-electric fuels, battery storage, clean energy jobs, energy burdens and rates.
Poll: Massachusetts Voters Want More Clean Energy
A survey of 600 registered voters in Massachusetts showed voters remain concerned about climate change and optimistic about renewable energy.
A Green New Deal for Boston: An Action Plan for Achieving Climate Justice
Boston can become a global climate justice leader by embracing radical possibilities that prioritize systemic change. A Green New Deal for Boston can address the root causes of issues such as affordability, congestion, and unequal access to city resources. The Boston Green New Deal recommends seven main principles for systemic change rooted in transformation and accountability. It calls for changes that are people-centered, rights-based, and democratic. These changes must demand the prioritization of justice, decommodify society and nature, and provide social and ecological resilience. Initiating concrete policy proposals that align with these principles will help Boston recover from the pandemic in a way that ensures community resilience and promises residents secure jobs, affordable housing, and a thriving local economy.
Poll: As Earth’s temperature rises, Massachusetts residents’ sense of urgency on climate change declines
Majorities of Massachusetts residents support proposals to reduce buildings’ climate impacts, and communities of color are most concerned about climate change. Another state-level poll, courtesy of the Boston Globe and MassINC, finds that Massachusetts residents widely support requirements to make new construction in the state more climate-friendly: 70% support requiring new or renovated buildings to be ready to charge electric vehicles. 67% support requiring new or renovated buildings to use only renewable electricity. 57% support requiring new or renovated buildings to be fully electric, using no oil or natural gas. An even larger majority (76%) support a proposal to update the state’s building code to require that buildings be better protected against climate change. 77% believe that climate change will be a serious problem for Massachusetts, including nearly half (48%) who believe it will be a “very” serious problem. Majorities of Latino (60%) and Black residents (57%) believe that climate change will cause “very serious” issues for the state if left unchecked, compared to 46% of White residents.
Environmental Polling Roundup - April 22nd, 2022
This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on clean energy investment as part of Biden’s economic plan; “direct pay” reforms to better incentivize clean energy production; electric vehicles and ethanol; and state-level polls in California and Massachusetts.
Poll: Mass. residents concerned about climate change, but more worried about health care, education & jobs
Massachusetts residents are concerned about the impacts of climate change, with majorities saying that climate impacts like heat waves, coastal flooding and more powerful storms are already or very likely to hit the state in the next five years. However fewer than half of residents (47%) list climate change as a high priority -- it trails behind worries about health care, jobs and the economy, education, taxes, and fuel costs. The new survey suggests concern over climate change has declined since a similar poll in 2019 in which 54% of residents called climate change a high priority for state government.
Majorities of MA residents support climate and energy policies including:
- Update the states' building codes to require buildings to be better protected against climate change (76%)
- Require new or renvoated buildings to be ready to charge electric vehicles (70%)
- Require new or renovated buildings to be fully electric, using no oil or natural gas (57%)
Additional analysis and data visualizations in this article from WBUR.