Seize (and Clean) The Means of Production
By Marcela Mulholland and Ethan Winter
Proponents of the Green New Deal have argued that addressing the climate crisis at scale has the opportunity to create millions of good jobs in the clean energy sector and beyond. With 17 million people filing for unemployment insurance in the last three weeks alone, the coronavirus pandemic is proving just how necessary massive investment in green jobs might become. As policymakers in both parties grapple with various approaches to stymying the economic fallout of the pandemic, polling conducted by Data for Progress finds that restarting the economy and putting Americans back to work in government-owned contractor-operated facilities producing clean technologies has broad-based support from voters.
In a March survey, Data for Progress tested support for the following proposal:
Congress is considering a stimulus package to address coronavirus and the economic fallout from the pandemic. For each of the following potential components of the package, please indicate if you support or oppose them: -- restarting the economy and putting Americans back to work in government-owned facilities producing clean energy technologies like batteries, solar panels, and electric vehicles.
Voters are enthusiastic about such an idea. Overall, voters support this policy by a margin of 42 points (64 percent support, 22 percent oppose). Voters under 45 are particularly supportive, backing it by a 48 point margin (66 percent support, 18 percent oppose). Black voters back the proposal by a margin of 50 points. Support for this policy transcends partisan lines with Republicans supporting it by a margin of 23 points (56 percent support, 33 percent oppose) and Democrats supporting it by a margin of 66 points (77 percent support, 11 percent oppose).
As part of another April survey, we retested support for this proposal, subjecting it to likely Democratic arguments for and Republican arguments against. Specifically, voters were provided the following statement:
Congress is considering a stimulus package to address coronavirus and the economic fallout from the pandemic. For each of the following potential components of the package, please indicate if you support or oppose them: Some Democrats in Congress are proposing to restart the economy and put Americans back to work in government-owned facilities producing clean energy technologies like batteries, solar panels, and electric vehicles. Democrats say this will help put Americans back to work after the coronavirus pandemic, like the federal government did after World War II. Republicans say that the response to the crisis should focus on the coronavirus, and that Democrats are seizing on a pandemic to push their socialist Green New Deal agenda. Do you support or oppose this proposal?
We found that even in a partisan survey environment that mimics a cable news exchange, the proposal retains considerable levels of support. Overall, voters support this policy by a margin of 14 points (47 percent support, 33 percent oppose). Patterns of support are spread broadly across measured demographics as when the proposal was tested without partisan frames. Voters under 45 are particularly supportive, backing it by a 41 point margin (62 percent support, 21 percent oppose). Voters of color are largely supportive, with Black and Hispanic voters backing the proposal by margins of 45 points and 52 points, respectively. Opinions are largely sorted along party lines, with a decisive majority of Democrats enthusiastic and a majority of Republicans opposed.
Despite the stigma against government ownership of industry, the urgency of the climate crisis and the ongoing coronavirus-fueled economic fallout calls for bold public intervention. Government-owned facilities producing clean energy technology like batteries, solar panels, and electric vehicles could help transform our economy away from fossil fuels while creating millions of jobs at a time when there is a dire need for employment opportunities for Americans who are out of work. Matthew Yglesias of Vox recently made the case for a similar proposal that would put Americans to work manufacturing personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, which are at a severe shortage amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Even though a partisan environment decreased support for the policy–as we would expect–Data for Progress still finds that restarting the economy and putting Americans back to work in government-owned clean manufacturing facilities has net support among voters. Lawmakers would be wise to consider bold progressive ideas such as this to restart the economy.
Authorship and Methodology
On March 31, 2020, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 2165 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, urbanicity, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ± 2.1 percent.
On April 6, 2020, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 2643 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, urbanicity, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ± 1.0 percent.
Marcela Mulholland is Deputy Director for Climate at Data for Progress.
Ethan Winter is an analyst at Data for Progress.