Record Turnout For Biden’s Clean Energy Vision

Climate was on the ballot and a record number of voters turned out to support Joe Biden’s vision for an equitable clean energy future that creates millions of good-paying, union jobs. The politics of climate have changed and the new administration has a mandate to take climate action on Day One.

A record number of voters turned out for President-elect Biden’s vision for a clean energy future and now, his administration has a mandate to take bold climate action on Day One.

  • More than 74 million voters turned out to vote for Biden — more people than have ever voted for any other president in history.
  • Biden’s victory was driven by a surge in turnout by young voters and voters of color, communities that research shows are motivated by climate, combined with an increase in support from suburban voters who overwhelmingly disapproved of Trump’s record on climate.
  • Trump lied 978 times in 2020 about climate, but voters rejected Trump’s attacks and turned out in record numbers for Biden’s clean energy vision to create millions of good-paying, union jobs — even in Pennsylvania where Trump made the election a referendum on energy.
  • A Morning Consult exit poll found that 3 in 4 Biden voters said that addressing climate change was very important in deciding their vote for president.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaigned aggressively on bold climate action and won. 

  • During the final days of the campaign, Biden and Harris made climate and environmental justice central to their closing argument, including on the campaign trail in MI, WI, and PA.
  • Biden promised in his first 100 days to send Congress “a transformational plan for a clean energy revolution.”
  • Since Election Day, Biden has already said climate will be a top priority, promising to rejoin the Paris agreement on Day One and featuring climate on his new transition website.

Biden and Congress must act immediately to create millions of good-paying jobs, reduce pollution disproportionately harming communities of color, and protect our planet for future generations.

  • There was no escaping the real-life impacts of the climate crisis in 2020, which helped elevate climate as a top election issue.
  • Climate fires raged across the West, the Gulf Coast suffered from a record-shattering hurricane season, and droughts and extreme heat put millions at risk.
  • Voters know without action, extreme weather will become more severe and costly, millions will be displaced, poverty will be exacerbated, and our national security will be at risk.

As the politics of climate continue to change and more voters demand action, GOP leaders will have to face reality: climate change is good politics and inaction is no longer an option.