Two Key Senators Have Climate-Friendly Constituents, Poll Finds

September 26th, 2010 by Susan Kraemer

Public opinion polls that find that we average Americans prefer to keep a planet that we can live on are a dime a dozen, but they never make a damn bit of difference, because dirty-fueled politicians say, “oh, but not my constituents”. Here’s a poll that might change that, because it focused on swing voters in key states.

Instead of asking average Americans – nationwide – the Woods Institute for the Environment asked just the constituents of several possible filibuster-breaker Republican Senators; who are in a position to tip the balance in getting clean energy legislation passed.

Read this and quake, if you are a Republican Senator from Massachusetts or Florida. Your constituents do too care.

Your constituents were asked whether global warming is happening and what is causing it. They were asked if they worry about how bad it will be, about global warming affecting them, how much it will cost, and how much they think we should spend to stop it.

Surprise. Constituents in those states are just like average Americans. Large majorities of all three states believe that global warming has been happening, is human caused, will be problematic, and should be addressed by government. (Poll)

While these Republican Senators will not pick up any Republican votes by moving to the center of American values, according to the poll; they could well earn new votes from Democrats and Independents for breaking with the party.

And both Massachusetts and Florida Senators will need the votes of Democrats and Independents.

How many? The poll found a potential 3 point swing in Florida and a 9 point swing in Massachusetts. (The poll also queried voters in Maine, with the same results. But clearly Maine’s two Republicans, Collins and Snowe know this already. They have voted with Democrats on clean energy for over a decade.) This vote-changing potential was lowest among Republican voters, but higher for Independents, and highest among Democrats.

This poll would put the most pressure on Republican Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts, who has shown he might break from the filibuster pack on clean energy. (The other Senator from Massachusetts is a Democrat; Senator Kerry, who authored climate legislation this year.)

Florida is, at this point, up for grabs. The clean energy vote of Bill Nelson (D-FL) is not in question, but the Republican Senator for Florida, George LeMieux, is retiring.

His seat will be taken in January by either a regular Republican (Rubio) who would become merely one more filibuster vote in the Senate, or possibly – by former Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who has had to run as an Independent, because Republican voters there don’t like his bipartisan voting record. (A very weak Democrat is running a very distant third in the three way race, so this poll is really aimed at Crist in Florida, because he splits the Democratic vote).

Crist has been somewhat more supportive of clean energy legislation than most Republican Governors, with the exception of Arnold Schwartzenegger. This poll pressures him to vote with the Democrats on clean energy votes. Like Senator Brown, Governor Crist would need Democratic votes to keep a seat in the Senate.

Image: the White House at Flikr
Susan Kraemer@Twitter

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, poll, progressive legislation, the Woods Institute for the Environment, three states

About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.

Pingback: Barbara Boxer Rebound Confirmed By Another California Poll – Huffington Post | The Fresno News
hsr0601

At this time, it looks like the oil-friendly country is gambling on Iraq oil again, citing a big government & deficit, and therefore the world-wide stimulus package worth trillions and health care reform in America are now at stake.
Gambling on party of “no idea” is sure to be much like Throwing an Egg of Economy Against The Wall.
Of the money by the money for the money is getting a society nowhere near prosperity

The recovered stock market value alone, around $1.5 trillion, is nearly twice as much as the stimulus package, set aside all the other benefits.
My response to the question : where are jobs ?
In the trade deficit, exactly in the severe and persistent oil money spill, taboo of ” do not add to the deficit” party.
Pingback: Apollo Daily Digest » Blog Archive » September 27, 2010: BP Spill IS World’s Largest Marine Spill Ever
Pingback: The Optimistic Scenario for Election Day – Huffington Post (blog) | Conservatives for America