Putting the "Public" in Power
Welcome back to Data for Climate Progress — your one-stop shop for all things climate at Data for Progress.
Welcome back to Data for Climate Progress — your one-stop shop for all things climate at Data for Progress. Catch us here every month for our latest climate polling, juicy insights, and can’t-miss reading lists.
Before we dive in, thank you to Maxine Joselow, Vanessa Montalbano, and the Climate 202 team for causing DFP to do the biggest of double takes when reading their newsletter header last week. If you’re missing their viral content, like this adorable baby giraffe, you’re missing out.
As always, we’d love to hear from you — drop us (Grace Adcox and Catherine Fraser) a line at gracea@dataforprogress.org and catherine@dataforprogress.org. Forwarded this email? You can subscribe below.
It’s Time, DOE: We Need Strong Public Governance for Carbon Management
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) new Responsible Carbon Management Initiative is a tremendous opportunity to set guardrails and strong governance structures for carbon management. As we detail in our public comments to DOE on the initiative, however, the carbon management industry risks further entrenching environmental injustices and contributing to industry greenwashing without the inclusion of mandatory measures in the initiative. Our comments urge DOE to:
Reframe the initiative and its principles to encourage public sector governance, target-setting, and ownership of carbon management;
Make its principles for carbon management mandatory; and
Leverage its principles to build anti-fossil fuel carbon management to prevent further environmental injustices and industry greenwashing.
Read our summary and access our full comments here.
While you’re at it, take a look at our snazzy new resource guide — A Progressive Vision for Carbon Dioxide Removal. We’ve got you covered on all things CO2 with our guiding principles, community workshop reports, and equity engagement work.
Last, but certainly not least, shout out to Heirloom Carbon on the recent launch of their Four Principles for High Road Carbon Removal. These principles mark a significant step in crafting an equitable and climate-positive vision of carbon removal and direct air capture, and we hope this is just the start of new players in the carbon management industry defining their own benchmarks for equitable carbon removal. CDR world: who’s next?!
@ Exxon — It’s Not Us, It’s You
Over the last two years, oil and gas companies have posted record profits, with companies like ExxonMobil reporting historic, billion-dollar quarterly earnings. American consumers in the meantime have felt a pinch at the pump as gas prices have fluctuated in the past couple of years. New polling from Data for Progress and our partners Climate Power and Fossil Free Media finds that voters assign “a great deal” of blame for higher energy prices to members of OPEC+ (47%), market instability driven by global conflict (42%), oil and gas CEOs (42%), and oil and gas companies more generally (39%). Likely surprising none of our readers, voters across party lines are doubtful that oil and gas companies would uphold their climate promises without government enforcement, and they widely support taxing excess profits and making polluters pay for climate damages. Who’d have thought that Republican members of Congress in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry aren’t representing their constituents’ interests? It sure beats us. Read our full findings here.
Fodder for Surviving Your Family Thanksgiving
Voters across party lines agree: Subsistence fishing should be limited to rural residents when salmon are scarce in Alaskan rivers. About 1 in 5 Alaskans, most of them Alaska Native, live in rural areas, where fishing is critical not only for food, but also essential to the cultural and spiritual well-being and survival of Alaska Native people. The last few years, salmon runs in western Alaska have collapsed, a crisis that threatens both food security and cultural heritage for many rural villages. Contrary to the push by some to open fishing to all residents despite salmon scarcity, a majority of national voters agree (59%) that when salmon are scarce, DFP finds fishing should be limited to rural residents.
Record Profits Really Do Mean Record Contracts
✊DFP stands in solidarity with UAW workers. Following an unprecedented strike involving almost 50,000 workers at the “Big Three” automakers, UAW President Shawn Fain announced a tentative agreement with GM Monday, bringing the unconventional “stand up strike” to a close, following earlier announcements of tentative agreements with Ford and Stellantis. If ratified, UAW workers could see raises as high as 33% and future workers at EV battery plants could be covered by the UAW. Our polling finds that a majority of voters (62%) support the UAW strikes. The UAW’s strike and record — though tentative — agreements are a resounding symbol of the continuing resurgence of the U.S. labor movement.
What’s next for the UAW? Organizing like they’ve never organized before, according to Fain. In one of his signature Facebook Live streams, Fain told union members, “When we return to the bargaining table in 2028, it won’t just be with the Big Three. It will be the Big Five or Big Six,” signaling that the UAW will next aim to unionize non-union automakers, like Tesla and foreign automakers with American plants. Say it loud for the people in the back: An equitable, worker-centered energy transition must be rooted in a strong labor movement. And if anyone knows a union print shop where we can get our very own iconic Shawn Fain “Eat the Rich” tees, please do be in touch.
ICYMI
Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Jamaal Bowman reintroduced the Green New Deal for Schools Act late last month. In February 2022, DFP found a strong majority of voters (69%) support a green new deal for public schools. The bill would invest $1.6 trillion over the course of 10 years to create climate-friendly and just public schools through building upgrades and grants that target historic funding inequities, reducing class sizes, and bolstering diversity in the classroom.
IRA FAN ALERT: DFP launched its new Inflation Reduction Act resource guide. Check it out for polling on the IRA's popularity in all 50 states — plus support for its climate provisions, health care components, and pay-fors.
DFP at the DNC
This month, our Executive Director Danielle Deiseroth spoke at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Environment and Climate Council Meeting at the DNC Fall Meeting in St. Louis, highlighting how Democrats can run — and win — on climate in 2024.
“Community Engagement” Isn’t Just a Buzzword
DFP’s climate pollster, Grace Adcox, facilitated a panel discussion about project agreements and community engagement, and how such agreements can advance an equitable clean energy transition and community-centered implementation of the IRA and IIJA. Thank you so much to our co-hosts at the World Resources Institute and our guest speakers: Betony Jones from the Department of Energy, Amanda Woodrum from Reimagine Appalachia, Melanie Jamileh Prasad from Jobs to Move America, Julian Gross from the Law Office of Julian Gross, and Charlotte Brody from BlueGreenAlliance.
Missed the webinar? You can find a recording here.
Putting the "Public" in Power: Voters Support Having a Publicly Owned Utility
In less than two weeks, Maine voters will head to the polls to decide whether to replace the state’s two private utilities — Central Maine Power and Versant Power — with a publicly owned utility, Pine Tree Power. New polling from Data for Progress finds that a strong majority of likely voters nationwide (68%) support having a publicly owned utility as their local utility provider. Support holds across party lines, with majority support among Democrats (71%), Independents (66%), and Republicans (67%).
A public utility puts the keys in the hands of everyday Mainers, who would elect a board of seven representatives, who then would select six expert advisors to serve alongside elected representatives on the board. The board — on behalf of its constituents — would then be responsible for setting utility rates, determining financing, and deciding what energy sources to prioritize.
Pine Tree Power advocates stress that a new, not-for-profit utility owned by and for Mainers can best provide affordable and reliable electricity. Of potential benefits of a publicly owned utility, voters are most excited about having a say over the rates they pay for electricity (45%).
Importantly, Pine Tree Power would allow Mainers to drive ambitious climate action across the state. Advocates stress that a public utility will better decarbonize and enhance the grid with greater access to low-cost capital and accountability to Maine voters.
Despite the critical need for rapid decarbonization this decade, studies suggest that utility companies across the country are moving far too slowly on scaling clean energy. In fact, a new Sierra Club report found that the 50 dirtiest utility companies are moving in the opposite direction — with plans to build out new fossil fuel infrastructure. Public utilities could change that, by putting everyday Americans — 59% of whom want their utility company to prioritize using clean energy over fossil fuels — in the driver's seat.
As states and cities across the country look to rapidly decarbonize our energy system, public utilities can help democratize the energy transition, ensuring that we all have a say in the decisions that affect the cost, reliability, and source of our energy — as well the future of our planet.
Read our full brief on public utilities here.
The Carbon Removal Project That Puts Communities in the Driver’s Seat, by Jean Chemnick (E&E News)
Key Player in Nascent Carbon Removal Industry Says No to Oil Money, by Ben Geman (Axios)
What Polls Can Miss About Americans’ Love of Wind and Solar Power, by Robinson Meyer (Heatmap)
As Climate Risks Mount, The Insurance Safety Net Is Collapsing, by Lois Parshley (Grist)
Oil and Gas Job Promises Out of Reach for People of Color, by Terry Jones (Verite News)
Big Auto Screwed Itself on the E.V. Transition, by Kate Aronoff (The New Republic)
Renewable Energy Is Reckoning With Its Perception in Rural America, by Jon Reed (CNET)