Trump’s Closing Strategy to Attack Clean Energy Falls Flat in Pennsylvania
Washington, D.C. — Donald Trump’s closing strategy to attack Joe Biden’s clean energy plan and the transition from fossil fuels is falling flat with voters in Pennsylvania, according to a poll released today by Climate Power 2020.
The former vice president leads Trump 52-45 in Pennsylvania, according to the survey conducted by Public Policy Polling of more than 1,000 voters on Oct. 28 and 29.
In recent weeks, Trump and the Republicans doubled-down on their failed strategy to attack Joe Biden for supporting the need to transition to clean energy. Instead of peeling away Biden voters in the two must-win states, the policy had an 11-point advantage in Pennsylvania when voters were asked if they support or oppose it.
“Trump has crisscrossed the country to attack Joe Biden’s climate plan, but despite countless rallies spent fear-mongering on clean energy and millions of dollars of misleading ads, voters overwhelmingly support the need for climate action. Joe Biden has maintained the lead in Trump’s must-win states where voters are increasingly concerned about climate change,” said Climate Power 2020 Executive Director Lori Lodes. “The politics of climate have changed. Until Republicans begin to deal with the reality of climate change, they will not have support from a growing majority of voters who are demanding climate action.”
The poll can be found here.
Voters are increasingly concerned about the climate crisis and want elected officials to take bold climate action.
- A majority (55%) of voters in the Pennsylvania survey said climate action should be a “top” or “serious” priority for the next president.
- Voters also trust Biden to better handle the crisis over Trump by 11 points – 51 to 41%
- Transitioning to clean energy policy has an 11-point advantage in Pennsylvania when voters were asked if they support or oppose it.
- In Pennsylvania, 60% favor the government giving subsidies to invest in renewable energy like wind and solar – an acknowledgment that these investments would create good-paying, union jobs.
- An Economist/YouGov poll, also released this week, found that climate is the number three issue among all voters and is the number two issue for Democrats and young voters age 18-29.
This bodes well for Biden who has put climate action at the front of his campaign, running two new ads focused exclusively on climate change in the past week and calling climate the “number one issue facing humanity. And it’s the number one issue for me.” He has also emphasized how his $2 trillion clean energy plan would invest in frontline communities and create good-paying, union clean energy jobs.
The Climate Power polling found that voters are overwhelmingly concerned about climate change after months of climate fires, supercharged hurricanes, and extreme heat.
- In Pennsylvania, 70% said they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about climate change.
- Sixty-eight percent of Pennsylvania voters also said they are concerned about extreme weather events like the wildfires in the West or the record-breaking hurricane season.
The Climate Power 2020 polling echoes recent polls of voters in battleground states and nationally that have found overwhelming support for clean energy investments. A Morning Consult/Politico poll taken in the days following the last presidential debate and released this week found that 69% of voters support increasing the use of renewables as the country transitions from fossil fuels.