Biden voters favor natural gas for affordability, reliability, and clean energy future
Likely voters in U.S. Senate battleground states strongly support natural gas as a key part of America’s clean energy future and say the U.S. should continue cultivating and exporting natural gas to provide energy security for our European allies, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The poll, conducted by leading Democratic pollster Impact Research, surveyed 1,500 likely voters in Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where the next election could determine the balance of power for the U.S. Senate.
The poll was commissioned by Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, a coalition of industry leaders seeking to inform the public and policy makers about why partnering natural gas with renewable power sources is the best way to accelerate a clean energy future.
According to the poll:
- 80% of voters agree America’s energy future must include a mix of renewables and natural gas, including 80% of Democrats. These numbers are also consistent across Senate battlegrounds, with 83% agreement in Arizona, 81% in North Carolina, and 83% in Pennsylvania.
- 78% of voters want continued cultivation and export of U.S. natural gas to provide energy security to allies, making them less reliant on countries like Russia for their energy.
- 74% (including 74% Independent and 53% Democrat) side with reliability and affordability with a gradual shift to clean energy, versus 22% who prefer an energy policy like the Green New Deal which aggressively prioritizes 100% renewable energy even if it costs more each month.
- 72% say rising costs are creating problems for their families.
- 78% had a favorable opinion of natural gas, nearly equally popular to solar (80%) and significantly higher than wind (69%)
Voters in these states prefer an energy policy that prioritizes reliability and affordability while adopting clean energy over time, including majorities of Democrats (53%) and Biden voters (52%). “Americans know we need a reliable, affordable source of energy, and they trust in natural gas for our future. It is a great American asset that has and will continue to help us meet our climate goals,” said former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., co-chair of the Leadership Council of Natural Allies. “In partnership with our growing renewable portfolio, it will keep us energy independent and strengthen our national security.”
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Impact Research: Summary Survey Research in Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania
Likely voters in Senate battleground states are strongly supportive of natural gas and believe it should be part of America’s clean energy future. This includes strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and majorities in Arizona, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
They also strongly favor efforts to cultivate and export American-made natural gas to Europe to provide energy security to our allies, while making them less reliant on countries like Russia for their energy.
Strong support for natural gas
More than three quarters of likely voters are favorable toward natural gas, making it just as popular as solar and more popular than wind. Opinions of coal are net-negative, while views on nuclear are tepid.
Support for natural gas is strong and consistent in all three states, with 79% favorable in Arizona, 78% favorable in North Carolina, and 78% favorable in Pennsylvania.
Likely voters believe natural gas is both a clean (71% agree) and an affordable source of home heating and electricity (78% agree). These numbers near or exceed 70% in all three states. Similarly, voters across demographics believe natural gas to be both clean and affordable.
| % Agree | Natural gas is clean | Natural gas is affordable |
| Democrat | 58 | 69 |
| Independent | 69 | 77 |
| Republican | 87 | 88 |
| White | 74 | 79 |
| Black | 66 | 72 |
| Hispanic | 60 | 77 |
Over 80% of likely voters agree that America’s energy future needs to include a mix of renewables, natural gas, and other energy sources to further reduce emissions without sacrificing reliability and affordability (83% agree / 13% disagree). This includes 80% of Democrats as well as 80% of Biden voters.
These numbers are also consistent across Senate battlegrounds, with 83% agreement in Arizona, 81% in North Carolina, and 83% in Pennsylvania.
The Context: Concern over Affordability
- The backdrop for this support is rising concern with affordability in general, and for energy in particular. Nearly three-quarters (72%) say rising costs are creating problems for their family, and a plurality (39%) say that “affordable” energy is more important than “reliable” energy (25%) or “clean” energy (33%).
- This explains why 74% prefer an energy policy that prioritizes reliable energy at the most affordable price, while adopting clean energy over time, versus 22% who prefer an energy policy like the Green New Deal that aggressively prioritizes 100% clean energy even if it costs more every month.
- Across partisanship, voters in these states prefer an energy policy that prioritizes reliability and affordability while adopting clean energy over time, including majorities of Democrats (53%) and Biden voters (52%).
Support for natural gas in the context of war in Ukraine
Three-quarters favor the U.S. continuing to cultivate and export American-made natural gas to Europe to provide energy security to our allies, while making them less reliant on countries like Russia for their energy (78% favor / 15% oppose). This includes a majority (51%) who “strongly favor” and 27% who “somewhat favor.” There is agreement across partisan lines – 74% of Democrats, 79% of Independents, and 80% of Republicans favor this.
Impact Research conducted n=1,500 interviews with likely 2022 voters in Arizona, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania between February 26-March 3, 2022. Interviews were collected using a combination of live callers on mobile and landline, and SMS text-to-web, and weighted to be geographically and demographically representative. Expected margin of sampling error is ±2.5% for the full sample and ±4.4% at the state level at the 95% confidence level.