Even in Red States Westerners Want Clean Energy and Conservation

 An article published in the LA Times on February 16, 2023 was titled “Westerners support 100% clean energy; less oil drilling – even in red states. “ This was based on a yearly poll from Colorado College called “Conservation in the West” on their “State of The Rockies” page. The report has great infographics summarizing the results.

The states involved were not the coastal deep blue states but Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Some highlights:

The individuals who responded to the poll included more Republicans (37%) than Democrats (31%), and 34% were conservatives.

4/5 supported the 30-30 plan to protect 30% of land and water by 2030.

Most want oil companies to clean up after themselves.

Most identify as conservationists.

It is no surprise that in the western United States conserving water was a huge issue. The majority favored getting rid of grass lawns!

From the report [their bold]:

“Roughly two-thirds of Western voters advocate for reducing the need for coal, oil, and gas by expanding use of clean, renewable energy, and support transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy in their state. There is majority support for tighter standards on oil and gas production, even among those who say gas prices are a serious problem.

Despite increasing gas prices and energy costs, by more than a 2-to-1 margin, Westerners say reducing the need for coal, oil, and gas by expanding use of clean, renewable energy generated in the US is a greater priority than drilling and digging for more coal, oil, and gas wherever we can find it in the US. Remarkably, the roughly two-thirds support (65 percent) for expanding renewable energy is consistent with when this question was asked over a decade ago in 2012 (65 percent). Today, there is broad agreement across the Western states that America’s energy needs would be better served by focusing on renewable energy. The sole exception is Wyoming, where the state’s economy is much more reliant on oil, gas and coal extraction.

Consistent with the last two years, two-thirds of Westerners support gradually transitioning their state to 100 percent of their energy being produced from clean, renewable sources over the next 10 to 15 years. A majority in every state supports this transition, except for Wyoming where more voters oppose than support the idea (36 percent support; 64 percent oppose).

Support for this transition to all renewables is particularly strong among key voter sub-groups such as young voters under age 35 (80 percent support), Latinos (83 percent support), Black voters (80 percent support), moderates (74 percent support), and those who are newer to their state (72 percent support).”

So why don’t they vote that way? Why do they vote red in most of those states most of the time? The LA Times article suggests that it simply isn’t the top priority for many voters.

But there is hope! After all, we aren’t as far apart as we think we are or seem to be!

Rooftop solar panels in the west!