Data for Climate Progress 2.23.2021 - Deb for Interior Edition.
Welcome back to the Data for Climate Progress Newsletter, your update on new research, blog posts and memes from the Data for Progress climate team: Julian Brave NoiseCat, Marcela Mulholland and Danielle Deiseroth.
What We’re Watching
#DebforInterior
This week the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee will host a confirmation hearing for Rep. Deb Halaand, President Biden’s choice for Interior Secretary. Her appointment would have wide-reaching ramifications for advancing climate and environmental justice as well as Indigenous rights.
Danielle and Julian wrote about popular policies Halaand could enact as Secretary of Interior here.
Bonus: We even have Deb for Interior merch! All of these products are union-made and proceeds will be donated to NDN Collective. See here.
Texas needs a Green New Deal
While many Republicans are using the humanitarian crisis in Texas to spread lies and fear about the Green New Deal, it’s clear that what Texans really need are ambitious, equitable and effective energy and environmental policies—or, in other words, a Green New Deal. The climate crisis will only make extreme weather events like the one that wreaked havoc across the Lone Star state in recent weeks more likely. We need to invest in resilient and sustainable energy infrastructure to prevent and prepare for similar events.
We’ll have more polling on the situation in Texas soon.
Polling
Voters support 100% clean electricity by 2035
Moving the country to 100% clean, carbon-free electricity by 2035 is not only key to reducing pollution and addressing climate change, but is also overwhelmingly popular: A majority of voters nationwide (62 percent) support this proposal.
That support is also bipartisan: Nearly all Democrats (85 percent), a majority of independents (60 percent), and 40 percent of Republicans support 100% clean electricity by 2035.
Check out the full memo here.
After four years of strained relations, voters want America to work with China to address climate change.
In a joint polling project with the Asia Society Policy Institute, Data for Progress surveyed likely voters across the nation about the United States’ role as a global leader on climate change and about opportunities to not only compete but also collaborate with China on climate action.
This report comes on the heels of America ~officially~ rejoining the Paris Agreement and Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry appearing in the White House Briefing Room to discuss America’s global leadership on the issue.
Highlights from the polling include that 56 percent of voters think America needs to work with China on addressing climate change despite tensions between the nations and 61 percent of voters agree that America should take ambitious actions to address climate change and lead the world on this issue.
Check out the full joint issue paper and explore in-depth data analysis of the polling data on the Asia Society Policy Institute’s website here.
Secretary-designate Deb Haaland can carry out an overwhelmingly popular agenda at the Interior Department.
Of the policies that President Biden has proposed to be carried out by Secretary-designate Haaland and the Interior Department, voters are most supportive of conserving 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030 (69 percent support), increasing protections for endangered plants and animals (69 percent support), and promoting new clean and renewable energy production on public lands and waters (67 percent support).
In addition to these conservation and job-creation policies, voters also support strengthening methane emission standards on public lands (61 percent support) and taking steps to return stolen lands to Tribal Nations (59 percent support).
Even pausing new leasing for fossil fuel projects on federal lands and waters—the subject of ire for most of Secretary-designate Haaland’s critics—enjoys +14 net support among national voters (48 percent support, 34 percent oppose).
Check out the full blog post with additional analysis on the broad support across party lines here.
Policy
Obsessed with procurement
Leveraging the federal government’s enormous purchasing power is key to addressing the climate crisis at scale. Every year, the federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on goods and services, and President-elect Biden has committed to using this procurement authority to reduce emissions and drive towards a more sustainable federal government.
Senator Warren makes the case for green procurement on our blog here.
100% Clean Electricity by 2035
Biden campaigned and won on an ambitious platform to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean energy economic recovery—including a 100% clean energy standard for electricity by 2035. We worked with Evergreen Action to lay out a roadmap for how to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2035.
Progressive regulatory agenda
We worked with the Center for Progressive Reform to explore how voters perceive environmental regulations and the associated cost-benefit analyses that politicians use to justify their climate policies. Our findings show that likely voters are quite supportive of robust use of regulations to address an array of issues, especially as it pertains to the environment and climate.
More here.
Lead Locally
Races to watch
San Antonio City Council - Texas is on our minds and hearts this week and, if anything good is to come out of the deadly conditions Texans are enduring, it’s a political reckoning with their leaders’ historic deregulation and mismanagement of the state’s utilities and energy grid. With the largest public utility in the country, San Antonio is a great place to start. Several progressive candidates have recently announced bids for Council with plans to transition the city to renewable energy and retire the JK Spruce Coal Plant including:
Robert Treviño for District 1 - One of the most progressive incumbents, Treviño has fought to defund the police, reckon with the city’s racist history, and push for more public housing. He has also fought to retire the city’s coal plant much sooner and pressured the utility to stop power shutoffs during the pandemic.
Jalen McKee Rodriguez for District 2 - A teacher and former council aide, Rodriguez is challenging his former boss in a bid to bring progressive energy and better representation to Council as a young, gay black man. Far outpacing other candidates in fundraising, Rodriguez is running with plans to tackle gentrification, increase utility oversight, and support Black and brown small businesses.
Terri Castillo for District 5 - Local organizer and historian Castillo is running to hold the city’s utility accountable to meet emissions reduction goals, increase affordable housing, and conserve the city’s limited water.
Here are a few other notable Texan progressive candidates demanding accountability from ERCOT, the state’s power grid:
Adam Bazaldua for Dallas City Council District 7 - The incumbent progressive has blasted the state for its lack of preparedness and communication with local governments. Bazaldua has championed the city’s new climate plan and proposed defunding the police, and is running for re-election.
Alison Maguire for Denton City Council District 4 - The progressive challenger has called for ERCOT and state legislators to be held accountable for the grid’s failure. One tenet of her campaign is supporting local renewable energy and public transit.
GND champions getting to work
The Virginia state legislature is fighting Dominion utility after years of progressive wins. Dominion is one of the most politically influential and dirtiest state utilities in the country. As a result of incredibly weak campaign finance laws, Dominion has given tens of millions in campaign contributions to state candidates over the last decade (and still plans to increase spending this cycle) and that influence has led to VA having some of the costliest, least energy efficient, and least renewable energy in the country. After a years long campaign by activist groups to elect progressives and demand Dems reject utility money, the House has again rolled out a bill to curb the utility’s profits and return money to taxpayers. While the bill failed in the Senate, it has generated more support than ever and is a remarkable turning point considering the utility’s influence. Look out for more on exciting progressive VA Assembly candidates in the next newsletter!
Richmond’s Claudia Jimenez (from our 2020 GND slate!) is calling for a just transition after the Chevron oil spill. Her demands have bolstered a growing local movement for a full transition off fossil fuels and reparative investments in local BIPOC communities most harmed by this spill.
Lancaster County Commission (Nebraska) eased some of the strictest rules in the country on wind turbines led by Commissioner Christa Yoakum. While a campaign by climate activists (including us!) to elect Yoakum to the Public Service Commission failed in 2018, it built her profile enough to get her appointed and then re-elected to the County Commission where she’s led this local drive to create more wind energy and jobs in the county.
Media hits
Foreign Policy (Julian co-authored)
Misc
Washington Post (Sean quoted)
Daily Kos (Julian mentioned)
Greater Greater Washington Area (DFP mentioned)
Guy On Climate (DFP mentioned)
DailyKos (DFP mentioned)
Climate emergency
Biden
The Optimist Daily (Danielle quoted)
The Bulwark (DFP mentioned)
Politico (Julian quoted)
Grist (Danielle quoted)
Newsy (Marcela quoted)
EcoWatch (Marcela quoted)
DNYUS (Sean quoted)
Daily Kos (DFP mentioned)
Politico (Sean quoted)
Clean Electricity Standard
Politico (Report mentioned)
Axios (Report mentioned)
Washington Post (Report mentioned)
Vox (CES report featured)
Gizmodo (CES report featured)
National Wind Watch (Report mentioned)
The Hill (DFP mentioned)
The Hill (DFP mentioned)
Business Insider (Report mentioned)
China
Reuters (DFP mentioned)
ExBulletin (DFP mentioned)
Deb for Interior
Bloomberg (Julian quoted)
Santa Fe Reporter (Julian quoted)
Washington Post (Julian quoted)
Meme
