On Eve of Senate Votes, New Polling in Key States Shows Strong Support for Clean Power Plan

The Sierra Club released polling today showing significant support for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan among registered voters in key states. The new polls come on the eve of votes expected next week in the US Senate on Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions intended to derail the policy and its historic public health protections against carbon pollution.

The polling, which was conducted by Public Policy Polling in Missouri, Maine, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, and Iowa, also found that voters in these states trust scientists at the EPA over elected members of Congress to decide whether there should be limits on air and water pollution. In Illinois, for example, 70 percent of those polled said they trusted the EPA over elected members of Congress, and an equal percentage favor the Clean Power Plan.

In Missouri, 56 percent favored the Clean Power Plan and 64 percent trusted EPA scientists to make decisions regarding air and water pollution limits. For Ohioans, 64 percent favored the Clean Power Plan and 65 percent trusted EPA scientists over elected members of Congress. Across the board, there was a clear trend toward confidence in the EPA, the Clean Power Plan, and the need to combat climate disruption.

"This data clearly shows that majorities in these states support the EPA's Clean Power Plan," said Grace McRae, Sierra Club's Polling and Research Director. "Voters across the partisan spectrum want the EPA to limit dangerous carbon pollution and are ready to support candidates who will act to make that happen."

The poll, which was fielded over the past week, asked respondents a series of questions germane to the Congressional attacks to the Clean Power Plan. Additional findings included that the majority of voters in the targeted states considered climate disruption to be a serious problem and pluralities favored the United States doing more to address it.

Respondents also expressed a clear preference for candidates who support the Clean Power Plan. In Virginia, for example, 57 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate for Senate that supported the Clean Power Plan, which includes 35 percent who said they would be much more likely to vote for such a candidate. In Maine, 66 percent said they are likely to vote for a candidate that supported the Clean Power Plan, which also included 38 percent who said they would be much more likely to vote for the hypothetical candidate.

"Voters from these states have made it crystal clear that they want their Senators to support the Clean Power Plan, not coal interests on Capitol Hill," said Mary Anne Hitt, Director of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "Senators in these states have a choice: listen to their constituents back home and support the Clean Power Plan, along with all the public health and clean energy benefits it provides, or side with deep-pocketed polluters in Washington who are attacking it."

For more information on state specific data, please use the following hyperlinks assigned to each respective state: Missouri, Maine, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, and Iowa.