AUSTIN –A new poll released today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation shows Texans overwhelmingly trust Texas state government to do a better job than Washington, D.C., in protecting the environment. The poll, conducted by Baselice & Associates, Inc., from April 6-12, further reveals that Texans overwhelmingly oppose the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) unconstitutional Clean Power Plan (CPP).
Significant findings from the survey include:
- Texans overwhelmingly trust the state government over the federal government to effectively regulate for and protect the environment.
- A plurality of respondents believe the federal government is not doing a good job at securing environmental quality and the state should instead take the lead.
- 67% of respondents with annual household incomes under $35K oppose the Clean Power Plan if it increases their electricity bills.
- 61% of African Americans, 59% of women, and 65% of unemployed respondents oppose the CPP if it increases their electricity bills.
- Uniquely strong support for the CPP comes from Anglo Democrats (63%), urban/suburban Democrats (48%), and those with annual household incomes above $125K (46%).
“These results show that a strong majority of Texans understand the difference between effective and balanced environmental programs at the state level, and the increasingly infeasible and counter-productive regulations imposed by the federal government,” said Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment the Honorable Kathleen Hartnett White. “Most critically, the results reveal the regressive impacts of current federal initiatives: exorbitant costs hurting middle and low income families. The EPA’s current green schemes are a disturbing wealth transfer from the poor to the rich, and Texans understand that.”
“These results speak for themselves,” said TPPF’s Fueling Freedom Project Director and former Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Doug Domenech. “Once people understand the impact on their electric bills, they reject what the EPA is trying to do, that is, to significantly increase the cost of electricity in exchange for the thinnest of environmental benefits. It really is all pain and no gain."
To view the survey results, visit: http://txpo.li/CPP-energy-regulation-poll
Additionally, the Texas Public Policy Foundation recently released a paper by White entitled The Facts About the Clean Power Plan.
The Honorable Kathleen Hartnett White is Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment. She is also former Chairman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (2001-2007).
The Honorable Doug Domenech is Director of the Fueling Freedom Project at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Domenech most recently served as Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia and served as White House Liaison and deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.