New Fox Poll results have interesting results in terms of top areas of concern for Americans.
Making the top ten with nearly 60 percent “Extremely or Very Concerned” – Climate change – one place above Illegal Immigration.
Political candidates need to figure out ways to communicate concerns about climate change, while aligning with other issues that voters feel are important.
A number of the leading issues have to do with financial concerns, “Inflation and High Prices” are number one.
A key messaging battle this year will be getting voters to make the connection between, for instance, the high price of electricity, and of home and car insurance, and climate change.
They need to understand that climate solutions, like renewable energy and storage, are what is needed to stabilize electric prices.
They should understand that doubling our exports of natural gas, currently planned by Energy Secretary and Fracking millionaire Chris Wright, is only going to drive prices up further.
Wright, among other MAGA sycophants, gets this, and is regularly posting misleading messages on social media blaming clean energy for rising electric rates. The data shows otherwise.
New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and consulting firm Brattle Group illustrates this, showing, for instance, that “Natural disasters, extreme weather, and wildfire mitigation costs have significantly increased prices in some states”.
I’ve posted recently about the relationship LBNL shows between prices and exposure to Natural gas generation.
The same research established:
- There is no significant correlation between higher prices and deployment of utility-scale solar & wind
- The states with the largest increase in solar & wind between 2019-2024 appear, if anything, to have experienced price decreases over the same period
So in the graph here, you can see that, for instance, South Dakota (SD on the lower right) has greatly increased wind and solar, while prices have decreased.
Also notable Iowa (IA), and New Mexico (NM).
Texas stands out, as it is the state with the largest overall growth of clean energy, and prices have gone down in the studied period. (2019-2024)
One outstanding exception is California, but that is a special case, as the study points out.
“California is an outlier, with inflation-adjusted price changes far exceeding those in other states: impacted in large part by wildfire-related costs”
Successful political messengers concerned about climate solutions should study and memorize these points – as electric affordability will be one of 2026’s key battlegrounds.