The public is split on phasing out gas and oil, as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden proposed in the final debate, according to a new poll.
A Washington Examiner/YouGov poll found that 46% favor a federal energy policy that seeks to phase out oil and gas to 43% who would oppose it, a result within the margin of error. The opposition is more intense, suggesting those who are against phasing out gas and oil may be more likely to vote on the issue: 34% say they strongly oppose the idea to just 9% who somewhat oppose, while 27% strongly support the idea to 19% who say they somewhat support it. Eleven percent say they don’t know.
Republicans are overwhelmingly against a phaseout, with 83% saying they are opposed and 73% strongly opposed. Democrats support such a policy by a 65-point margin, though they are split between 46% who strongly support it and 30% who somewhat support it. Independents are split evenly on the question, with 44% in support and 44% in opposition.
President Trump has hammered Biden on whether he will eliminate energy industry jobs in pursuit of environmental policy goals. Trump has pointed to statements against fracking made by Biden and running mate Kamala Harris during the Democratic primaries. Biden and Harris have since denied they will ban fracking.
But Biden did say in the final debate that he would back a transition away from some traditional energy sources.
“Would you close down the oil industry?” Trump demanded. “I would transition from the oil industry,” Biden replied. “Yes.”
“Oh, transition,” Trump responded mockingly. He added of Biden, “Basically, what he’s saying is he’s going to destroy the oil industry. Will you remember that, Texas? Will you remember that, Pennsylvania? Oklahoma? Ohio?”
Trump used Hillary Clinton’s perceived indifference to energy industry jobs against her in 2016, carrying coal mining-friendly West Virginia, a reliably Democratic state until 2000, by 42 points. His campaign hopes to use these issues to hold Texas and Pennsylvania, complicating Biden’s path to an Electoral College majority.
The president has also tried to tie Biden to the Green New Deal, which Harris has supported and which influences the “unity” agenda the Democrats developed in concert with Bernie Sanders supporters ahead of their party’s nominating convention earlier this year. Biden has emphasized that he, not Sanders, is the Democratic standard-bearer.
The poll nevertheless shows there is significant support for a transition away from gas and oil, as Democrats and some independent voters embrace green policies. Only 7% of Democrats would strongly oppose this policy, with another 4% somewhat opposed. The question is whether voters who are more dependent on the energy industry for employment will be more likely to cast their presidential ballots on the issue, as has traditionally been the case. Trump’s 2016 win resulted from puncturing the Democrats’ “blue wall” in the manufacturing-heavy Rust Belt.
The Washington Examiner/YouGov poll was conducted with 1,194 registered voters interviewed on Oct. 26-27, and the margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
