AEA Survey Makes Clear: Voters Don’t Want to Pay for Biden’s Global Warming Agenda

It is time for the Biden team to give up on their dreams of making energy more expensive and limiting consumer choice with respect to cars and trucks.

WASHINGTON DC (April 28, 2021) – As the Biden Administration attempts to make good on all of its recent proclamations with respect to global warming and renewable energy, the American Energy Alliance today released the results of a nationwide survey conducted in February of 1,000 voters (3.1% margin of error). The topline results of the survey, conducted by MWR Strategies, are included here.

The results indicate that voters want and expect minimal federal involvement in the energy sector. This sentiment is driven partly by cost considerations, partly by lack of trust in the government’s competence or its intentions, and partly by a strong and durable belief in the efficacy of private sector action.

Specific response sets include:

• Voters don’t want to pay to either address climate change or increase the use of renewable energy. There continues to be limited appetite to pay to address climate change. When asked what they would be willing to pay each year to address climate change, the median response from voters was 20 dollars. That is very similar to answers we have received to this question over the last few years, which suggests that climate change – despite the rhetoric – has stalled as an issue for most Americans.

In this survey, we also asked about voters’ willingness to pay to increase our use of the renewable to 100% by 2035. The median response was 10 dollars.

• Carbon tax? No, thank you. When asked whether the federal government should impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, 62% of respondents said no.

Voters don’t want government to raise taxes on energy (58% oppose). Voters are clear-eyed that energy is a good thing that should not be made more expensive (75% agree).

• Don’t ban internal combustion engines. Voters emphatically don’t want government to make it illegal to sell gasoline-powered cars (75% oppose). Similarly, 80% do not think the federal government should mandate what kinds of cars people can buy.
• Climate change remains a low priority. As has been the case across a number of years, climate change is not a particularly salient issue. Just 13 respondents (1.3%) identified it as the most pressing issue facing the United States, and just 25 more (2.5%) identified it as the second most pressing issue facing the United States.

Similarly, when asked separately to characterize climate change, 50% of respondents indicated it is either not a problem, a minor problem, or a moderate problem. Less than a quarter (24%) indicated it was a crisis.

Thomas Pyle, President of the American Energy Alliance, issued the following statement:

The survey and results can be read here.

Additional Resources:

• View Past AEA Surveys and Results
• Organizations Warn Congress: Watch Your Back, Sue-and-Settle Is in the Air
• IER Commentary: If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try ‘Green Jobs’ Again
• Biden’s Infrastructure Bill: Green Handouts for the Politically Connected

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