Poll Shows Support For California's Climate Change Efforts

Climate change has clearly caught the attention of Californians. A new poll shows wide support for the state’s current – and future – efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Nearly 70 percent of Californians support the state’s existing greenhouse gas reduction mandates in the Public Policy Institute of California survey. And new goals up for debate in the Legislature this year win equal backing.

The PPIC’s Mark Baldassare says those results stem from another of the poll’s findings: the broad concern across regions and voter groups that climate change threatens California’s future.

“Because they have these concerns – and now they add to them the drought – they are generally favorable towards the state taking its own course to deal with climate change right now,” Baldassare says.

Some specific requirements proposed by Governor Jerry Brown and the state Senate’s top Democrat have even higher support. They include increasing the amount of California’s energy from renewable sources from a third to a half … and cutting vehicle petroleum use in half.

Only a quarter of Californians surveyed believe the state's efforts to fight climate change will reduce the number of jobs in the state.