AUSTIN, Texas - As the mid-term elections approach, a new analysis shows that Latinos overwhelming support greater environmental protections, and such conservation issues could influence their voting decisions.
The report is from the Hispanic Access Foundation. Its president, Maite Arce, said the reason Latinos favor environment-friendly policies is because they see them as essential elements to a better quality of life.
"Some of the more important specific issues the Latino voters really care about," she said, "are clean air and water and preserving public lands, climate change and promoting clean-energy solutions."
She said the report also concluded that Latinos are more likely to vote for candidates based on their environmental positions - and that cuts across the board.
"One of the other findings they had in this analysis was that, for the most part, Latinos are not divided by gender or party identification or age or any other demographic traits when it comes to the conservation issues and the environment."
With the Latino population being the fastest-growing segment in the United States, Arce said their engagement in conservation is critical and could have far-reaching impacts.
The full report is online at hispanicaccess.org.
