Voters Aren’t Buying Republican “Job-Killing” Arguments About Biden’s Climate Agenda
By Danielle Deiseroth and Marcela Mulholland
Time and again, Republican lawmakers have used the battle cry of “killing jobs” to rail against progressive environmental and climate policies. Most recently, this has played out with Republicans attacking President Biden’s environmental policies and his climate plans for the Department of Interior, asserting that these policies are bad for the economy and will put Americans out of work. This “jobs versus environment” narrative is simply not true. Launching an all-out, government-wide mobilization to stop climate change has the potential to create millions of good jobs across the country. And despite Republicans’ best efforts to counter this reality, voters across the country reject the notion that creating jobs and transitioning to clean energy are mutually exclusive.
Another recent climate executive order that has received a barrage of criticism from Republicans is the pause on new leasing for fossil fuel projects on public lands and waters. This order will be carried out by the Interior Department, and congressional Republicans are using it to brand Secretary-designate Deb Haaland as a “radical” for supporting it. However, voters are on Biden’s side: a plurality of voters (48 percent) agree that Biden did the right thing and it’s time to review the fossil fuel leases that have allowed fossil fuel companies to exploit public lands and waters for mere pennies on the dollar. While support is primarily driven by Democrats (77 percent support), nearly half of independents also support this executive order (48 percent). Though this order does not enjoy the same high levels of bipartisan support as other conservation and job creation climate orders that Biden has recently issued, it is not the political boogeyman that many pundits have made it out to be.
In addition to supporting Biden’s executive orders on fossil fuel subsidies and fossil fuel leasing, voters also agree with Biden’s overall stance toward addressing climate change. By a 12-percentage-point margin, a majority of voters (52 percent) think lawmakers from across the aisle should pass climate legislation that will transform America’s economy, while only 40 percent think climate legislation will kill jobs and raise energy costs. It is not surprising that nearly three-quarters of Democrats (74 percent) agree with the Biden-style messaging, while 64 percent of Republicans agree with the Republican-style messaging. However, Biden is delivering a winning message to independent voters: a majority (55 percent) of independents support Congress in pursuing transformative climate legislation.
President Biden has consistently spoken about how climate change is a bipartisan issue and addressing climate change through new federal investments will create jobs, reduce pollution, and ensure America is a sustainable nation for generations to come. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans have lamented Biden’s climate agenda, claiming American taxpayers will foot the bill for exorbitant spending and thousands of jobs in the fossil fuel industry will be lost in the advent of the clean energy economy. Despite these partisan jabs, it is clear Biden is winning the messaging war.
Danielle Deiseroth (@danielledeis) is the Senior Climate Data Analyst at Data for Progress.
Marcela Mulholland (@x3Marcela_) is the Political Director at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From February 12 to February 15, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,169 likely voters nationally 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 ±2.9 percentage points.
From February 5 to February 7, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,213 likely voters nationally 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 ±2.8 percentage points.