PA Environment Digest Blog: F&M Poll Finds 67% Climate Change Causing Problems Now, 68% Support Doing More To Address Climate Change; Split 50% On Nuclear Power Subsidies

Thursday, March 28, 2019

F&M Poll Finds 67% Climate Change Causing Problems Now, 68% Support Doing More To Address Climate Change; Split 50% On Nuclear Power Subsidies

A new Franklin & Marshall Poll released Thursday found registered voters believe that climate change is currently causing problems (67 percent) and most (68 percent) think the state should do more to address those problems.

Most Democrats (88 percent) and independents (80 percent) believe the state should do more to address climate change while only two in five (38 percent) Republicans do.

This may reflect the fact that fewer Republicans (41 percent) than Democrats (85 percent) and independents (78 percent) believe that climate change is currently causing problems.

A majority in most demographic groups believe that climate change is currently causing problems.

Renewable Energy

An overwhelming majority of registered voters poll (68 percent) said the state should prioritize the availability of renewable energy (solar and wind) over coal and natural gas.

On a separate question of which other sources of energy were the most environmentally friendly, natural gas led the pack at 30 percent, then came nuclear energy at 20 percent and coal at 2 percent.

Nuclear Power

Two in three (68 percent) voters believe the state should pursue policies that prioritize renewable energy and one in two (55 percent) believes that nuclear energy should be one component of the state’s long-term energy strategy.

In this instance, Republicans (64 percent) and independents (61 percent) are more likely than Democrats (44 percent) to support including nuclear power as part of the state’s long-term energy strategy.

There are few demographic differences in attitudes about including nuclear energy as part of the state’s long-term energy strategy, but one difference does stand out: more men (69 percent) than women (40 percent) support nuclear energy as a long-term strategy.

Support for adding nuclear power to the list of renewable resources from which electricity companies must buy power is divided: half (50 percent) favor the proposal and half either oppose it or aren’t sure.

Here again Republicans and Democrats differ: Republicans (56 percent) and independents (55 percent) are more likely than Democrats (43 percent) to favor adding nuclear power to the list of renewable energy sources.

Support for this initiative is higher among those over 35 years of age and higher among men (56 percent) than women (43 percent).

Restore Infrastructure

The poll found 18 percent of register voters thought “improving and restoring the state’s infrastructure system” was the third biggest problem facing the state after funding for public education (23 percent) and reforming the state’s property tax system (21 percent) and ahead of attracting, retaining and supporting businesses (10 percent)..

Click Here for a copy of the full results.