Climate Power

Menu

NEW POLL: Majority of Latino Voters in Nevada Support Clean Energy Investments in the Build Back Better Act to Create Jobs and Fight the Climate Crisis

A new poll from BSP Research and Climate Power shows that acting on climate is a priority for Latinos in Nevada who see the climate investments in the Build Back Better Act as a key way to make progress on top political issues.

CARSON CITY, Neva. – An overwhelming majority (91%) of Latino voters in Nevada think Congress and President Biden taking climate action should be an important priority for this year. According to a new poll from BSP Research and Climate Power, Latino voters in Nevada and across the country want to see the Build Back Better Agenda passed, which includes clean energy tax credits and environmental justice policies. While the climate investments in the Build Back Better Act are still being debated in Congress, Nevada Latinos made clear that they want to see President Biden’s climate agenda enacted to create thousands of jobs across the state, lower energy costs, and protect the community from pollution and climate change.  

Latinos in Nevada are living with the impacts of the climate crisis now: from being disparately harmed by rising extreme temperatures due to ‘heat islands,’ to paying higher energy costs, to being more likely to be exposed to dangerous levels of smog pollution. Nevada continues to be home to some of the most polluted cities in the country. Las Vegas is now ranked as the 9th most ozone-polluted city in the US — up from 13th last year — and Clark County received an F from the American Lung Association for ozone pollution. This reality has made climate change a key issue for Latino voters across the state. 

Seventy-two percent of Latino voters in Nevada think that extreme weather events are a direct result of climate change, and 83% say the situation is getting worse each year. Even though climate change impacts all of us, decades of environmental injustice have put the greatest burden on communities of color. Latinos are the most exposed and the least likely to recover after an extreme weather event. This is why the Build Back Better Act resonates so strongly in the community —  it shows a clear path forward to mitigate climate change through a strong clean energy economy, while making strides towards environmental justice and protecting communities of color from toxic pollution. 

Latinos are one of the groups that will benefit the most from these bold climate and clean energy investments. Nationally, Latino households have a median burden of 24% greater than white households, and the communities in Nevada where a large fraction of household income is spent on energy are also the places where low-income communities and communities of color live. Nevada has immense potential to lower energy costs for Latino families by harnessing the state’s immense solar potential and  transitioning to a clean energy future now.

With the clean energy investments included in the Build Back Better Act, Nevada could harness the state’s abundant solar resources and save households on their energy bills.  This expansion of clean energy would boost job creation in this sector and provide jobs for Latinos, who already make up 20% of workers in the wind and solar industries.

Here are some key takeaways from the poll released today:

  • 81% of Latino voters in Nevada believe climate change is a very serious problem, with 40% calling it a crisis.
  • Latino Nevada voters are most concerned about extreme heat and longer heatwaves (27%), followed by longer and more extreme droughts (20%), and more frequent and more severe wildfires (18%), more frequent and powerful hurricanes (18%). 
  • 87% of Latino voters in Nevada believe that it is important for Congress to pass legislation that builds a clean energy economy that protects their communities from pollution and climate change.
  • 85% of Latino voters in Nevada believe that it is important for Congress to pass legislation that brings on a better clean energy economy and many jobs for their community.
  • 90% of Latino voters in Nevada believe that it is important for Congress to pass legislation that will reduce extreme weather, fires, droughts, and hurricanes which have made it harder for their families to work and earn a living.
  • COVID is the most important issue for Latinos. Decades of exposure to pollution left Latinos more vulnerable to serious illness and death during the pandemic. Latinos understand the connection between health and environmental injustice first hand.
    • That is why protecting the health of their families by reducing toxic pollution in the air and water is a key reason 92% of Latino voters in Nevada believe Congress should pass this legislation.
  • 89% of Latino voters in Nevada support legislation that creates millions of additional clean energy jobs in fast-growing industries like wind and solar. 
  • 89% of Latino voters in Nevada support legislation to make oil and gas companies pay their fair share for the pollution they create.
  • 87% of Latino voters in Nevada support legislation that would reward electric utilities that generate more electricity from clean energy sources, like wind and solar.
  • 87% of Latino voters in Nevada support legislation to make electric vehicles more affordable for consumers by providing tax rebates for the purchase of electric vehicles.
  • 92% of Latino voters in Nevada support legislation to lower energy costs by making homes, schools, buildings, and vehicles more energy efficient.

Latinos in Nevada are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, and the Build Back Better Act would go a long way to protect families, communities, and jobs from the extremes of climate change.  

The Build Back Better Act includes transformational clean energy tax incentives as well as key environmental justice provisions, including climate justice block grants to reduce pollution in frontline communities; cleanup of superfund sites; investments in healthy ports; a Civilian Climate Corps, and more. With the Build Back Better Act, Congress has an historic opportunity to provide relief for Latinos in Nevada who have been on the frontlines of this climate crisis while creating new jobs and boosting household incomes.