New Poll: Texas Storm & Extreme Cold Shining a Light on the Need for Climate Action

(Washington, D.C., February 25, 2021) Today, EDF Action released a national poll and a Texas specific poll that shows strong public concern over extreme cold weather and power outages and support for climate action by Congress. This includes support for a range of policy solutions from increasing clean energy and storage capabilities to improving energy efficiency.

“People across the country, and particularly in Texas, are concerned about extreme weather events having a devastating impact on their families and communities,” said EDF Action Senior Vice President Elizabeth Gore. “From increasing clean energy to making our power sources more resilient, people are really looking for state and federal governments to make serious investments to ensure future power outages don’t continue to occur due to extreme weather events.”

National Findings:

• Nearly three quarters of respondents say climate change legislation should be a priority, including 68% of independents, 73% of suburban respondents and 60% of rural respondents.
• On a number of policy of solutions, a majority of respondents want to see action taken to prevent future power outages:
  • Increasing clean energy is supported by 71% of respondents with high numbers of support from Independents (70%), urban respondents (78%), and suburban respondents (72%)
  • Increasing energy storage capabilities is supported by 81% of respondents with high numbers of support from Independents (78%), Republicans (78%) urban respondents (83%), suburban respondents (82%) and rural respondents (78%)
  • Making the power sources more resilient to extreme weather is supported by 87% of respondents with high numbers of support from Independents (85%), Republicans (83%) urban respondents (87%), suburban respondents (88%) and rural respondents (83%)

Texas Findings:

• Over three quarters of respondents say climate change legislation should be a priority, including 77% of independents, 79% of suburban respondents and 75% of rural respondents.
• On a number of policy of solutions, a majority of respondents want to see action taken to prevent future power outages:
  • Increasing clean energy is supported by 77% of respondents with high numbers of support from Independents (78%), urban respondents (84%), and suburban respondents (75%)
  • Increasing energy storage capabilities is supported by 88% of respondents with high numbers of support from Independents (83%), Republicans (93%) urban respondents (89%), suburban respondents (88%) and rural respondents (85%)
  • Making the power sources more resilient to extreme weather is supported by 93% of respondents with high numbers of support from Independents (89%), Republicans (95%) urban respondents (92%), suburban respondents (97%) and rural respondents (85%)

Here is the national memo.

Here is the Texas specific memo.