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Why This Matters: If history is a guide, climate change will drive Latinos to vote in the caucuses and in the general election in Nevada this year. Latinos are generally younger and more engaged in climate change than any other racial or ethnic group, according to several recent studies. Nevadans came out in droves to support pro-environment and pro-climate action candidates in 2018 and made a difference in several key races including Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen, who unseated her incumbent Dean Heller in and Democrat Steve Sisolak, who won the race for governor with barely 50 percent of the overall vote. Voters in the West, and in Nevada in particular, are increasingly want to see the federal government take action on fighting both climate change and pollution. Even mining on federal lands is overwhelmingly unpopular in most Western states according to the poll, while conserving 30% of the U.S. land and ocean by 2030 is very popular. Given President Trump’s policies, these issues could be the key to defeating him across the West.
The poll was taken by a non-partisan research team who conducted 3,200 telephone (cell and landline) interviews with 400 registered voters in eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming on January 11-19, 2020, in Spanish and English, with an overall sampling error of +2.65% for the total sample and + 4.9% for each state. Here are the highlights.
Most Westerners consider themselves conservationists and they take a public official’s stance on the environment very seriously; nearly half say it is a primary factor when deciding to support a candidate.
By 72% and 73% respectively, women and voters of color are more apt to say there will be effects of climate change in their state than their counterparts.
Across the political spectrum, there is an increased sense that climate change is a serious problem, with independents’ sense of urgency increasing the most from 45% in 2011 to 65% in 2020.
Across the spectrum, Western voters see Climate Change, Water Supply, and Pollution as the top three environmental issues, but in a different order depending on political party.
Climate change is the most important environmental issue in Nevada, as well as in Montana, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico.
Uncontrollable wildfires, one impact of climate change, are considered a serious problem by four-in-five Westerners.
Seven-in-ten Western voters believe removing the Clean Water Act protections was a bad decision.
84% of Western voters consider pollution of rivers, lakes, and streams is a top concern.
67% of voters believe reducing the protections for threatened species under the Endangered Species Act was a “bad change” even in rural communities (57%).
Two-thirds want their Congressman to protect national public lands over allowing more drilling and mining.
73% support (43% strongly) setting a national goal to protect 30% of America’s land and ocean areas by 2030.
To Go Deeper: Read the full poll results — there is so much more there than we can detail. It is highly worth the time.
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Late last week, President Biden and a critical mass of Democrats in the Senate and House agreed on the details of Build Back Better legislation — a $1.85 trillion overall investment that includes a record-setting $555 billion dollars to take on the climate crisis. The agreement marked a […]
By Amy Lupica, ODP Daily Editor Top executives from Big Oil companies ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and Shell testified before Congress yesterday amid accusations and revelations about their industry’s efforts to mislead the public about human-caused climate change while claiming to be in favor of climate action. A report released Thursday morning by the House Committee […]
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer As the world gets ready for COP26 in Glasgow next week, many nations are upping their pledges to lower emissions before 2030. But according to a UN report released Tuesday, even if Argentina, Britain, Canada, the EU, South Africa, and the US achieve their pledged goals, it would account […]
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