A new survey finds 7 out of 10 U.S. voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports climate solutions.
Self-identified Independents make up the single largest voting block today, comprising a remarkable 44 percent of the electorate, according to Gallup.
And according to a new ecoAmerica survey of 849 voters, 71 percent of Independents would be more likely — with only 14 percent less likely — to vote for the climate-solver candidate. EcoAmerica is a non-profit that helps other groups and companies improve their climate communications and outreach.
The ecoAmerica survey found that an overwhelming 89 percent of Democrats are more likely to support someone who embraces climate action — but also that 46 percent of Republicans share that view.
Concern about climate change is rising across the board, reports EcoAmerica, but especially with younger voters. Going into the 2018 election, 59 percent of voters over 45 say they are “more concerned about climate change compared to previous elections” whereas 69 percent of voters under 45 saying they are “more concerned.”
This finding is consistent with polling from February that found millennial voters overwhelmingly support action to fight human-caused climate change.
EcoAmerica also found that “Independents are siding with Democrats in disapproval of environmental rollbacks of the Trump administration.” Some 64 percent of Independents oppose the rollbacks, as do 86 percent of Democrats.
Interestingly, a poll from Elon University earlier this month suggests that at least in North Carolina, Hurricane Florence had a big impact on Republican views.
While Elon’s April 2017 poll of the Tar Heel state had found only 13 percent of GOP voters thought climate change would negatively impact the North Carolina coast within 50 years, their post-Florence survey found that number had jumped to 37 percent.
Finally, nearly 16 million super-environmentalists were registered to vote in the 2014 midterm elections, but didn’t, as ThinkProgress has reported.
So if efforts by groups like Environmental Voter Project to mobilize “the silent green majority” are successful, then we may be entering a period where more and more politicians realize the electoral benefits of embracing climate action.