From 2017 People’s Climate march (Photo by Edward Kimmel/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license)
WASHINGTON, DC — Latino Decisions election eve polling surveyed Latino voters across the country to gauge the importance of climate change and environmental issues to U.S. Latino voters in the November 2018 Midterm elections.
Methodology:
- The survey was conducted in states with contested U.S. House or Senate races (California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Colorado), and in 61 competitive house districts across the country.
- Measured the importance of climate change and environmental issues to Hispanic/Latino voters in the 2018 midterm.
- Interviewed 2,600 Hispanic/Latino registered voters from November 1st to 5th, 2018 by landline, cellphone, and online in English and Spanish (at respondent’s discretion).
A few key takeaways:
- A majority (65%) of respondents across the country indicated that they had experienced the effects of climate change within the last five years.
- Nearly half (49%) of respondents indicated that it is extremely important for the new Congress to pass legislation to aggressively combat global warming/climate.
- The majority (55%) of Latinos polled indicated they are much more likely to support a candidate seeking to reduce carbon.
- The majority (84%) of respondents indicated it is extremely or very important that Congress take steps to reduce smog and air.
- There is agreement across party lines; 90% of Democrat respondents and 61% of Republican respondents indicated it was either very important or extremely important for the new Congress to pass legislation to aggressively combat climate.
The following are statements from pollsters, and environmental and civic engagement leaders involved with this research.
Latino Decisions, Edward D. Vargas, Senior Analyst
“Over 78 percent of Latinos have personally experienced the effects of climate change in their state. Most dramatic is that over 65 percent have personally experienced extreme weather patterns such as deadly heat waves, frequent and intense storms and flooding within the past five years.”
The CLEO Institute, Yoca Arditi-Rocha, Executive Director
“Climate change is at the root of many of the issues Latino communities care about. This poll shows that communities understand the link between the changing climate and the well-being of their communities and will support legislation to reduce carbon pollution.”
GreenLatinos Mark Magaña, Founding President and CEO
“The vast majority of Latinos don’t need to be convinced of the importance of a clean environment or the importance of fighting climate change for their families and their communities. In fact, the results of this poll reaffirm that Latinos know the importance of protecting our environment and go further in demanding Congress take strong action to combat climate change and protect our communities and families from the scourge of toxic pollution.”
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Latino Decisions is a political insights firm specializing in Latino political opinion research. Latino Decisions methodology combines analytical expertise with cultural competencies to produce accurate information about Latino political insights.
GreenLatinos is a national non-profit organization that convenes a broad coalition of Latino leaders committed to addressing national, regional and local environmental, natural resources and conservation issues that significantly affect the health and welfare of the Latino community in the United States
The CLEO Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan organization exclusively dedicated to climate change education, engagement, and advocacy. Founded in 2010 by Caroline Lewis and headquartered in Miami-Florida, CLEO works with front-line communities and their leaders to build climate literacy. The CLEO Institute highlights the urgency of climate action and impacts policy, championing solutions for a resilient future.
