Debunking Environmental Myths

Poll Question:

Now I want you to think about the future.  I’m going to read you a short list of issues.  For each one, please tell me how concerned you are about that issue on a scale of zero to ten, in which ten means you are extremely concerned about the issue, five means you are somewhat concerned, and zero means you are not at all concerned.  Choices:  Education, Crime and Drugs, Health Care, Clean Air and Water, Medicare and Social Security, the Environment, Taxes, Sprawl and Overdevelopment, Global Warming

According to the national poll, clean air and water are in the top tier of issues that concern voters when thinking about the future.  When asked to rate their level of concern about a variety of issues in the future, 71 percent of voters indicate extreme concern about clean air and water issues, placing these issues on par with education (73 percent), crime and drugs (71 percent), and health care (70 percent), and above taxes (59 percent).

When asked about "clean air and water," voters respond with much more intensity than when asked "the environment."  In all but one of the states polled, "clean air and water" topped "the environment" as a concern for voters.  Only in New York, did voters respond more favorably to "the environment."

Poll Question:

In making a voting decision, how important are issues involving clean water, clean air and open space for you in deciding how to vote?

• Very important, they are a primary factor in deciding how to vote;
• Somewhat important, they are one of several issues to consider;
• Not very important, they are not necessarily an issue you consider;
• Not at all important, they are just not a consideration in deciding how to vote.

In every state polled, a strong majority of voters responded that clean air, clean water and open space were important factors in their voting decision.  Most notably, the states in which the highest percentage of respondents said the issues are "very important" included:  Michigan (60 percent), Wisconsin (58 percent), Ohio and Montana (both at 57 percent), and North Carolina (56 percent.)  In all states but one, over 80 percent of voters said that the environmental issues were "very" or "somewhat" important to their voting decision.  Most notably, voters in the New England region (92 percent), New York and Michigan (91 percent) and Ohio and Wisconsin (90 percent) said that the issues were important in their voting decisions.