Are Texas Voters Coming Around on Climate Change?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A new poll finds a majority of Texans in both parties are in favor of government action to tackle the climate crisis


Does Texas, the metaphorical oil tank of the American petroleum operation, care about climate change? About two-thirds of it does, says a new poll of Texas voters — and we’re not just talkin’ Democrats.

Sixty-five percent of Lone Star State voters of all political persuasions are in favor of government action to combat the climate crisis, and a third are strongly in favor of it. That’s not the only good news.

Of the 1,660 voters polled by Climate Nexus, 74 percent said they’re more likely to vote for a candidate who supports boosting federal funding for renewable energy. Among Democrats, climate change ranks right up there with the economy and jobs when it comes to issues voters care about in the 2020 election — only health care and gun policy ranked higher. The poll was conducted in conjunction with Yale and George Mason universities.

Texas is still very much a red state. Though Beto O’Rourke came close last year, no Democrat has won a general election in a Texas statewide race since 1994. And last time I checked, the GOP is still firmly in the “don’t take away our straws and burgers” phase of climate denial. So why is Texas suddenly inclined to climate action?

It could have something to do with all of the extreme weather that has walloped the state in recent years. A little more than half of the voters surveyed in the poll think their state government is ill-equipped to handle a big hurricane in 2019. Four in 10 voters voiced concern over having to relocate if there is a major weather event. Most tellingly, close to nine out of 10 Texans say they have been touched by extreme heat within the past year, and nearly half of those surveyed said they have experienced flooding or drought.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/are-texas-voters-coming-around-on-climate-change-886041/

[captain queeg]

1. The hurricanes might be getting their attention...

But any of those states with a coastline populated by the well-to-do’s beach houses are soon going to see their property values fall, then we’ll see some genuine concern about climate change.

[progree]

2. I suspect they are in the "minor fixes are all that is needed" stage, which is barely helpful

The Kaiser Family Foundation/Washington Post Climate Change Survey, 9/16/19
https://www.kff.org/report-section/the-kaiser-family-foundation-washington-post-climate-change-survey-main-findings-9349/

Few U.S. adults are willing to make personal sacrifices in the form of higher gas or electricity taxes in order to address climate change.

Fewer than four in ten adults (37%) think that reducing the negative effects of global warming and climate change will require major sacrifices from ordinary Americans, while a plurality (48%) think it will require minor sacrifices and 14% say it won’t require much sacrifice at all.

Majorities are willing to support raising taxes on wealthy households (68%) and on companies that burn fossil fuels, even if it may lead to increased electricity and transportation prices (60%), as ways to pay for policies aimed at reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

But when it comes to taxes that are likely to hit consumers’ pocketbooks, support is much lower. About half (51%) oppose a $2 monthly tax on U.S. residential electric bills, and seven in ten (71%) are opposed to such a tax at the $10 a month level. Similarly, majorities oppose increasing the federal gasoline tax by 10 cents or 25 cents per gallon (64% and 74%, respectively). There are partisan divisions, but even majorities of Democrats oppose a $10 monthly electricity tax (60%) and a 25-cent per gallon gasoline tax (63%).