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Why This Matters: As Election Day draws near, new polls by Pew Research found that 68% of registered voters consider climate change to be a “very important” or “somewhat” important issue. Many experts (and even some coal workers) agree that investing in renewable energy will help create jobs and boost the economy. Renewable energy is more economically viable than ever and voters support it. Moderate Dems may have been nervous that Republicans will try to skewer Biden over this remark, but these polls suggest that might not work. The question will be whether it flips any voters in a crucial swing state. Only time will tell.
Climate Deserves the Air Time
This was the first time in the 2020 presidential debates that the candidates were asked specifically about their plans to address climate change. Voters seemed to appreciate the airtime; fewer than 1 in 5 registered voters polled by Morning Consult felt that too much time was spent on climate in the final debate. 39% thought there was too little time dedicated to the climate, while 37% thought it was just the right amount.
A Fine Line
The poll found that registered voters trust Biden on climate change over Trump by a factor of 2 to 1. Trump has lost the trust of many energy workers, but experts are wary of the tightrope Biden must walk to maintain moderate and liberal voter trust. Voters on the left are concerned that Biden’s moderate stance will stymie the climate necessary to avoid catastrophe, but those in the middle don’t want to see layoffs and job cuts due to the loss of an industry that has dominated the American economy for a century.
Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.), who flipped a Republican district in 2018, wants more compromise in a Biden presidency. “I think, far too often, it’s too easy for people to oversimplify things and put people into categories that say you’re either with me or you’re against me,” she said. But more liberal lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a chief co-sponsor of the ambitious Green New Deal, praised Biden’s climate goals. The Biden Campaign’s strategy has seeming had some success, with Biden managing to garner the trust of 18% of Republicans following his final debate performance.
by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Less than two weeks after being confirmed, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has announced that the Biden administration is resuming an Obama-era program that gave billions in loans to clean energy companies. Granholm, during talks at the CERAWeek energy conference on Wednesday, pointed the clean energy businesses the Department of Energy loan program […]
by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The world desperately needs more sources of emissions-free energy, yet as these power sources are brought online, we must also contend with their impact on animals and ecosystems. In California, government officials are trying to rescue California condors, which are critically endangered, from being killed by the blades of […]
In the wake of one of the largest power losses in United States history, the conversation about green energy in Texas is back in the headlines. Emily Holden and two other investigative reporters collaborated on a story that ran in The Guardian, The Texas Observer, and San Antonio Report exposing how the Texas Gas Service was successful in significantly watering down a plan by the city of Austin to reduce the use of natural gas there in the future.
Why This Matters: The oil industry has spent billions to manipulate the national conversation around green energy.
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