Poll: Majority, including Democrats, oppose appliance energy regulations.
EXCLUSIVE: Americans Reject Green Energy Regulations on Appliances, Poll Shows
Most people, including a majority of Democrats, are likely to vote for a candidate who is against green energy regulations on appliances such as stoves and dishwashers — a sign that the Biden administration’s climate policies may be missing the mark with both parties.
A poll conducted by CRC Research for the 85 Fund exclusively obtained by the Washington Examiner reveals that most people are against the federal government placing regulations on household appliances, a recent push from President Joe Biden to tackle climate change.
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When asked how likely they would support a candidate who would revoke those regulations, 56% of respondents said they were “more likely” to support such a candidate. When broken down by party, 54% of Democrats and 48% of liberals joined 61% of Republicans and 52% of independents.
The poll showed that most respondents across all parties are in favor of “consumers’ decision” over government restrictions. One of the Biden administration’s most championed policies is to reduce fossil fuel consumption and increase green energy options, whether it be for vehicles or appliances such as gas stoves and refrigerators.
Several proposed regulations from the Department of Energy include amending energy conservation standards or pushing strict standards through that could lead to less-available gas stoves.
When asked if they were familiar with the term “administrative state,” 48% of those polled said they were unfamiliar with the term. However, when asked on a scale from 1 to 10 if they believe the federal government is being intrusive in the lives of the public, 71% of respondents selected seven or higher, with 35% saying 10, or very intrusive.
This indicates that while consumers may not understand the term “administrative state,” which is defined as the executive branch exercising power to create and enforce rules, they are not in favor of federal government regulations over the ability to make their own decisions.
“The Biden administration continues to use the power of government as a weapon to remove household appliances, gas-powered vehicles, and other popular products that everyday consumers rely on from the market,” O.H. Skinner, executive director of Alliance For Consumers, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “This poll shows how out of touch President Biden and his allies are. The federal government shouldn’t be forcing their preferred lifestyle choices on consumers.”
Respondents were also not supportive of political agendas playing a role in their everyday lives. The CRC Research poll conducted message testing, rotating the terms “climate policies,” “progressive agenda,” and “political goals” when asking respondents if they disagreed with using one of the terms as a reason to implement regulations.
The terms tested largely the same across the board, with 60%, 61%, and 63% of respondents disagreeing, respectively.
However, when switching out the term “progressive agenda” for “political goals,” there was a 10-point increase among independents. When using the term “progressive agenda,” 66% of independents disagreed with this as a reason for regulations. When switched out with “political goals,” the number of independents disagreeing shot up to 76%.
The swing in independent support shows that when confronted with a politically charged term or cultural topic such as ”progressive,” some left-leaning independents are more likely to switch over and side with green energy policies that seek to protect the environment.
When faced with the influence of “political goals” on regulations, independents will typically remain neutral and would not want to see one party’s political agenda infringe on the lives of people over another.
Americans are also not keen on green energy solutions if the result means more reliance on foreign nations.
Respondents were asked whether they were more or less likely to support regulations on appliances if it would benefit the environment — to which 50% of respondents said “less likely.” However, 12 percentage points of “more likely” respondents jumped over to make up 62% of respondents who were “less likely” to support federal regulations if it makes “America more reliant on China.”
When asked if regulations would benefit the environment, liberals voted 64% more likely, 27% less likely. With China as a factor, an equal amount of liberals, 44%, said they would support and not support federal appliance regulations.
“Our government is trying to decide what appliances we can buy in order to push a political agenda that doesn’t help Americans but will serve to make the U.S. more dependent on China,” Will Hild, executive director for Consumers’ Research, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. ”This shameful approach by the Biden administration has unfortunately become the status quo pulled straight out of Larry Fink’s ESG playbook, and Americans should reject it at every turn.”
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The Department of Energy unveiled its “Energy Policy and Conservation Program” at the beginning of the year, which involves new standards on conventional cooking appliances — with the overarching goal of cracking down on emissions from household items. Republicans have decried the proposed standards as government overreach that will be costly and burdensome.
The poll conducted by CRC Research for the 85 Fund involved a survey of 1,600 registered voters from June 22-25, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.45%.
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