Poll: Florida Latino Voters Want Action On Climate Change
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – As an important part of Florida's population, the voice of Latino voters is becoming more powerful, and a new survey finds a strong percentage want action to combat climate change.
Political opinion research firm Latino Decisions polled Latino voters in seven key states on the eve of the November election and found the majority are concerned about climate change, air pollution and other public health threats.
Senior analyst of Latino Decisions, Edward Vargas said many Latinos are exposed to environmental threats every day.
"We tend to reside and live near environmental dump sites, factories; Latinos are also more likely to be working in the field," he said. "So I think this is just a reflection of where we live and where we work is impacted by the environment."
Among Latinos polled in Florida, 85 percent believe President-elect Donald Trump and the new Congress should address climate change, with 89 percent supportive of the new administration taking measures to increase the use of clean-energy sources.
Vargas said while Latino support for climate action is strong across gender and generational status, it's even more important to those who more recently arrived in the U.S.
"Latinos who immigrate to this country are more likely to be moving from places that have already been experiencing climate change," he explained. "And so, this is basically their personal connection and tie to their homeland, and this has implications as they vote here in this country."
While nationally, Republican Latinos were less likely than Democrats to support fighting climate change, the survey still showed 62 percent of Republicans said it is still at least somewhat important.
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