Data for Climate Progress 5.25.2021 - ABC (Always Be CESing)
We’re Hiring
Our team is growing! We’re looking for someone to help build out our policy portfolio as our Policy Manager. More info on what we’re looking for and how to apply on our website.
We’re also hiring a Polling Principal to expand our ability to make research and polling available to our partners and the public. More info here.
What We’re Watching
When will the bipartisan song and dance end?
As infrastructure negotiations move forward, we’re hoping efforts to advance a “bipartisan” package end soon so that we can focus on passing an infrastructure package that meets the scale of the crises we face — with or without Republican members of Congress. The American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan are good starts, although both could increase in scale to be more closely aligned with climate goals and the policy tenets laid out in the THRIVE Agenda.
Our polling shows that both plans have overwhelming support among likely voters across the county, and voters want to see Congress pass the bills through the budget reconciliation process. See our latest polling on AJP and AFP in Crooked and on the DFP blog.
ABC (Always Be CESing)
A Clean Electricity Standard (CES) is the most important policy lever for reducing greenhouse gas pollution included in the American Jobs Plan. Momentum for this policy is building with nearly 50,000 voters signing on to a letter pushing Congress to pass a CES and conversation in DC growing around the importance of including a CES in the infrastructure package. We’ve been busy polling voters and briefing folks on the Hill about a CES. Stay tuned for more CES content from us in the coming months.
In case you missed it, DFP and Evergreen Action published a report earlier this year laying out a Roadmap to 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 that proposes various legislative pathways (including through reconciliation) to achieve a CES. The accompanying polling memo shows a majority of voters nationwide — including voters in key 2022 Senate battleground states — support a 100% by 2035 CES.
Policy
Biden’s first 100 days
The first several months of the Biden administration have been promising when it comes to fulfilling the campaign’s climate proposals, but the real measures of success still lie ahead. Ensuring that the infrastructure package includes the most ambitious climate provisions possible, including but not limited to a CES, will determine the fate of Biden's climate legacy — and our planet.
Danielle and Marcela wrote about why Biden can (and should!) lay the groundwork for a legacy of climate action. Read here.
Marcela talked about Biden’s climate actions on The Zero Hour here.
NIA in the House
Last month, Saule Omarova testified to the House Financial Services Committee on her proposal for a National Investment Authority. She emphasized the role that the NIA can play in advancing equitable and sustainable growth of the nation’s economy.
You can see the full report here and her full testimony here.
Polling
Voters support federal climate finance regulations
Last Thursday, President Biden issued a new executive order directing the federal government to assess how climate risks are impacting our financial system. Our new poll with our BFFs at Evergreen Action finds that voters nationwide widely back financial safeguards to protect consumers from climate change.
Two-thirds of voters (66 percent) agree that Wall Street is responsible for addressing climate change, and a bipartisan majority of voters agree that banks should be transparent about their climate risks.
For more climate finance polling, check out the memo we published last month.
Voters don’t just want investments in roads and bridges — they want the American Jobs Plan
While the Republican counter proposal to the American Jobs Plan focuses primarily on “physical” infrastructure and strips out the majority of the climate-centered proposals, voters across party lines back the climate and clean energy investments in the American Jobs Plan.
Our polling with Climate Power finds that a bipartisan majority of voters support the American Jobs Plan’s key climate and clean energy proposals, including modernizing the electricity grid (84 percent support), investing in R&D of new energy technologies (74 percent support), building new renewable energy projects (70 percent support), and creating a Climate Conservation Corps (69 percent support).
A majority of voters — including nearly all Democrats (91 percent), a majority of Independents (71 percent), and 40 percent of Republicans — agree that we should make ambitious investments in clean energy jobs, even if that means raising taxes on corporations.
To see how voters nationwide support clean energy job creation and the American Jobs Plan, check out our new map with the League of Conservation Voters that shows estimates of support in every state and congressional district across the country.
New York voters back a progressive state budget
In an April survey of voters across New York state, Data for Progress found that New Yorkers support a progressive state budget and back an agenda that tackles the biggest problems facing the state.
Among the policies that voters want to see the state legislature pass is the Climate Community Investment Act (CCIA), which enjoys support from over two-thirds of New Yorkers (69 percent support).
Texas voters support transitioning to clean energy
Texas prides itself as the energy capital of the United States, and our polling from earlier this year finds that Texas voters overwhelmingly back measures to ensure the state succeeds in a clean energy economy.
A majority of likely Texas voters — including three-quarters of Democrats (75 percent), a majority of Independents (63 percent), and a plurality of Republicans (50 percent) — agree that Texas can tackle the climate crisis and emerge as a leader in climate innovation.
Read our full memo here, and to learn more about how Texas voters felt about the statewide blackouts check out polling from our friends at Climate Nexus.
If you were wondering WTF happened to polling in 2020, we have some answers
The Data for Progress polling team recently released a polling retrospective exploring the different factors that impacted our 2020 election polling, and how we’re adapting our polling methods based on new trends in voter behavior.
Check out the New York Times coverage and the full retrospective memo to learn more.
Cross-Cutting Issues
There’s no climate justice without racial justice
One year ago today, George Floyd was murdered by the police. To address the systemic racism ingrained in law enforcement and the criminal justice system, we need far-reaching policy change. Our polling shows that a wide-array of measures including ending qualified immunity and diverting funds away from police departments and toward social services like housing and education are extremely popular.
As people working in climate policy, it’s also critical that we reckon with and acknowledge the racist history of the environmental movement and seek to advance anti-racist environmental policies that center Black, Indigenous and frontline communities.
Julian wrote about the environmental movement’s racist origins here.
In December, Marcela and Julian interviewed Dr. Bob Bullard, the ‘Father of Environmental Justice,’ about environmental justice and how Black Lives Matter intersects with the struggle for climate justice.
Lead Locally
GND slate
We recently launched our second Green New Deal Slate of local climate champions with Lead Locally. To tackle the climate crisis at scale, we need allies and climate champions at every level of government. A little bit goes a long way in these local races, so we hope you’ll consider supporting these amazing candidates.
Our Twitter thread highlights some recent wins, and you can check out the full slate here.
Media Hits
Climate Policy
Common Dreams (Marcela quoted)
Inside Climate News (DFP mentioned)
Axios (DFP mentioned)
Grist (DFP mentioned)
Wonkette (DFP mentioned)
The New Yorker (DFP mentioned)
Insurance News (Marcela quoted)
Common Dreams (DFP mentioned)
Common Dreams (DFP mentioned)
Canton Daily Ledger (DFP mentioned)
Maryland Patch (DFP mentioned)
Common Dreams (DFP mentioned)
POLITICO (Julian quoted)
Jacobin (Julian quoted)
American Independent (DFP mentioned)
FreeSpeech.org (Conversation with Julian)
American Independent (op-ed from Marcela and Danielle)
Biden
E&E News (DFP mentioned)
KQED (DFP mentioned)
E&E News (Julian quoted)
Truthout (DFP mentioned)
Jacobin (DFP mentioned)
Renew Economy (DFP mentioned)
National Memo (DFP mentioned)
The New York Times (DFP mentioned)
The Washington Post (DFP mentioned)
Vox (Julian quoted)
The American Independent (DFP mentioned)
The Guardian (DFP mentioned)
The American Prospect (DFP mentioned)
MassLive (DFP mentioned)
MassLive (DFP mentioned)
Atlanta Tribune (DFP mentioned)
Truthout (DFP mentioned)
Milwaukee Community Journal (DFP mentioned)
Daily Kos (DFP mentioned)
Daily Kos (DFP mentioned)
Yahoo News (DFP mentioned)
WisPolitics (DFP mentioned)
WMUR (DFP mentioned)
TheGrio (DFP mentioned)
Miscellaneous
1 NYC (Julian quoted)
Meme