Monthly Messenger: New Energy and Climate Polling Shows Strong Bipartisan Support for Renewables

Pew Research Center recently released their annual energy and climate national poll focused on environmental protection, energy, and climate change. The report found that a majority of Americans believe the federal government is doing too little to protect the environment including water resources (69%), air quality (64%), and protecting against climate change (67%).

The poll also found strong bipartisan support for renewable energy. Overwhelming majorities of Americans support more solar panel farms (89%) and more wind turbine farms (85%). When broken down by party, both Republicans and Democrats are in favor of expanding solar farms (80% and 96%) and wind farms (71% and 93%).

Despite partisan divides on how to address environmental protection and climate change, the poll found that millennial Republicans are more likely to support environmental positions. About 60% say that climate change is affecting the US and 45% say they see its impacts in their communities.

Resources:

• An overview of the poll can be found via Pew Research Center.
• Full results from the poll, including graphics and methodology.
• Articles about the poll can be found on E&E and the Atlantic.
• Check NCEL’s Public Opinion webpage for more polling on a range of issues.

The poll’s sample size was 2,541 respondents with a ±2.7% margin of error at a 95% confidence interval.