Brown holds edge among environment-minded voters in survey
Source: Susanne Rust/California Watch
If the environment is a very important issue to you, you’ll probably be voting for Jerry Brown this November. If it’s just kind of important to you, Meg Whitman is your candidate.
At least, that's what the Public Policy Institute of California is saying. The institute released a statewide survey yesterday that analyzed Californians’ opinions on a variety of environmental issues.
And the Brown-Whitman issue was just one.
According to the institute, in general, voters are closely divided between Democrat Brown (37 percent) and Republican Whitman (34 percent). However, if you ask a potential voter whether their candidate’s environmental position is very important in determining their vote, 50 percent of those who said "yes" favored Brown. Just 16 percent of those respondents would vote for Whitman.
Alternatively, for those who said their candidate’s position on environment is only somewhat important, 42 percent favored Whitman, and 33 percent favored Brown.
The survey is the institute’s 10th annual report on the environment.
“Our report is aimed at policymakers,” said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute. “We intend to inform policymakers about issues facing California, and give policymakers a sense on where public opinion is.”
Californians opinions have changed drastically on the issue of offshore drilling. Last year, the institute found 43 percent of state residents were opposed, while 51 percent supported it. Gas prices were high, and the BP disaster had yet to unfold.
This year, the number of those that are opposed jumped by 16 points to nearly 60 percent, while those in favor dropped to 36 percent.
“Whenever you see a 16 percent change over a year, that kind of change in public opinion is very sharp, “ Baldassare said. “I expected to see a shift, but this was larger than what I expected.”
The report also showed that two-thirds of state residents support AB 32, the state law that requires California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
As for the ballot initiative that would postpone AB 32 until unemployment levels fall below 5.5 percent, more than half (53 percent) said AB 32 should be enacted right away, while 42 percent said the state should wait.
Anita Mangels, spokeswoman for Yes on 23, a group in favor of Proposition 23, said the results are “illustrative of how much voters do not yet know about the costs of AB 32.”
“Incomplete information makes for incomplete answers,” said Mangels.
The survey is based on the telephone responses of 2,502 Californians.
The report also examined public opinion on nuclear energy, alternative energies, concerns about global warming and other environmental issues.
You can access the report here.
Article originally published at californiawatch.org/watchblog/3survey-reveals-59-californians-opinions-environment