Voters Support Fully Funding Lead Pipe Removal
By Danielle Deiseroth
Every day, millions of Americans from coast to coast utilize water that has passed through lead pipes. In a July 2021 study, the Natural Resources Defense Council estimated there are as many as 12 million lead pipes carrying water to over 20 million Americans across all fifty states. Scientists have linked lead exposure to dire health outcomes, especially among children and pregnant women. Moreover, as evidenced through the Flint water crisis, low-income communities and communities of color are often more likely to be exposed to lead pipes.
To address this widespread crisis, President Biden proposed $45 billion for lead pipe removal — the estimated cost of removing all lead pipes in America — in his American Jobs Plan. However, the bipartisan infrastructure bill recently passed by the Senate includes only $15 billion in funding. Now, as Congress finalizes the details of a new budget reconciliation proposal that lawmakers plan to pass this fall, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has proposed closing this funding gap with an additional $30 billion investment in lead pipe removal.
In an August 2021 national survey, Data for Progress found that likely voters support lawmakers fully funding the removal of all lead pipes in America. By a +52-point margin, voters support lawmakers passing additional funding measures for lead pipe removal beyond what is included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill (72 percent support, 20 percent oppose). There is strong bipartisan consensus: Nearly all Democrats (82 percent), over two-thirds of Independents (66 percent), and over half of Republicans (59 percent) support closing the funding gap to replace all lead drinking water pipes in America.
Previous Data for Progress polling has found that removing and replacing all lead drinking water pipes is one of the most popular environmental policies proposed in the president’s Build Back Better agenda. President Biden campaigned — and won — on a platform that pledged to address systemic environmental and public health crises like lead drinking water pollution. With broad bipartisan support, lawmakers should feel confident enacting the president’s vision and passing $45 billion in lead pipe removal funding to ensure all Americans have access to safe drinking water.
Survey Methodology
From August 13 to 16, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,193 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 ±3 percentage points.
Danielle Deiseroth (@danielledeis) is the Senior Climate Data Analyst at Data for Progress.