NEW POLL: Michigan Voters Strongly Support New Federal Climate Law, Want State to Take Action on Climate Change

64% of Michigan Voters Support Inflation Reduction Act; 71% Want Gov. Whitmer to Aggressively Pursue Federal Clean Energy Money 

Today, Evergreen Collaborative and Data for Progress released new polling that shows nearly two-thirds of Michigan voters support the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and an even larger majority want Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan leaders to aggressively pursue federal clean energy investments from the newly passed law.

The poll shows that 64% of Michigan voters support the IRA, including wide majorities of Democrats and Independents and 42% of Republicans. And 71% of Michigan voters—including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—want Gov. Whitmer to pursue clean energy funding from the law.

Some key findings from Evergreen Collaborative and Data for Progress are below, and the full poll results are available online here. 

Key findings:

  • 66% of Michigan voters are concerned about climate change.

  • 66% would like to see Michigan produce more energy from clean energy sources such as wind and solar power, while only 8% want to see Michigan produce less clean energy.

  • 61% think Michigan should do more to address air pollution, following the Supreme Court’s decision to limit the EPA’s ability to regulate pollution from power plants that contribute to climate change.

“Michigan voters strongly support the new Inflation Reduction Act and want to see their elected leaders fully utilize the key climate investments in the law,” said Data for Progress Lead Climate Strategist Danielle Deiseroth. “This new poll shows that climate change is a top-of-mind concern for Michigan residents, and they want to see their elected leaders take action to invest in clean energy. Across the political spectrum, Michigan voters want Gov. Whitmer to aggressively pursue federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in Michigan’s future.”

“Clean energy investments are not only critical to Michigan’s economic growth, they’re also extremely popular across party lines,” said Evergreen Collaborative Co-Founder and Senior Advisor Sam Ricketts. “The Inflation Reduction Act provides a massive opportunity for Michigan leaders to invest in clean energy that will lower costs and create good-paying jobs in communities throughout the state. State leadership will be critical to fully implementing the potential of the Inflation Reduction Act. As the market-setter for the auto manufacturing industry in America, Michigan is poised to lead with major investments in electric vehicle manufacturing and in clean energy production.” 

 

From July 29 to August 3, 2022, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 701 likely voters in Michigan using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points.

Evergreen Collaborative recently issued a fact sheet highlighting how leaders in Michigan can take full advantage of the discretionary funding in the IRA and how the law’s programs align with the state’s existing climate and environmental justice strategies.  

Evergreen’s new polling is a part of a multi-state effort to support and advance state progress on clean energy, following federal passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The new law includes a historic $370 billion in clean energy investments that will slash emissions and make progress toward America’s greenhouse gas pollution reduction goals. State leadership—and effective, equitable state implementation of the IRA and the bipartisan federal infrastructure law—will be critical to fully reach America’s pollution reduction targets, and to build a thriving and just economy run on clean energy.

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