New Poll Shows Voter’s Disdain for State Mandated Higher Costs
Monday Morning Report, April 30, 2012
Californians are unwilling to sacrifice jobs and pay higher energy costs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Support for AB 32 has declined by double digits over the past three years although a slim majority of California voters are still supportive of the state’s global warming law, according to a new poll released by the AB 32 Implementation Group last week. By contrast, a stronger percentage of voters are unwilling to pay more for energy, goods and services to achieve AB 32’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction goals.
Voters are also strongly opposed to the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) plan to implement a cap and trade auction. The poll, conducted in late March by EMC Research, Inc., compares and contrasts findings from previous polls conducted by the firm in August, 2008 and December, 2009.
Results of the current poll confirm that while a majority of Californians generally support AB 32, that support has steadily declined from 63% in 2008, to 58% in 2009, to 54% today. Conversely, voters expressed a growing unwillingness to pay more for gas, electricity, food and other consumer goods to reduce global warming by 59% which is up from the 53% in 2008. Only 39% said they were willing to pay more, and that support dropped dramatically as the incremental cost rose.
According to the poll, voters are in an overall pessimistic mood, with pocketbook issues including unemployment, the economy and the state budget deficit ranking highest among their concerns. Two-thirds of voters surveyed felt that California is on the wrong track. Only 1% cited the environment/global warming as the most important problem facing our state today.
When asked about specific elements of AB 32 implementation, voters provided revealing insights into how the public feels about various regulations. For example, support for cap and trade is initially at or above a majority (56%), but when details are provided, support erodes significantly, with more than 70% of voters less likely to support it. CARB’s cap and trade auction proposal fared even worse with voters.
Based solely on a basic description of the auction, roughly two-thirds taking the poll opposed it. After hearing more details, opposition remained virtually the same. Voters are concerned about the impact auction costs will have on jobs, consumer costs and the overall economy, and fear the possibility of market manipulation by Wall Street traders.
Another important finding is that voters feel strongly that Californians should not be forced to pay higher prices for gas, electricity and consumer goods while the rest of the country is not subject to the same regulations. A majority believe that a California-only policy will drive businesses away from California and cost the state jobs.
Costs for AB 32-related regulations are estimated in tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars, with the cost of the cap and trade auction conservatively projected by the Legislative Analyst at up to $3 billion for 2012 -2013 alone.
Three of the state’s largest utilities have estimated that auction and other GHG reduction costs to their ratepayers would exceed $32 billion between 2013 and 2020.
CIPA is an active member of the AB 32 Implementation Group. More details on the poll results are available at www.ab32ig.com.
