Climate is on the ballot, and could sway outcomes in 2024 elections – By Brooke Staggs (Los Angeles Daily News) / Jan 28, 2024
Californians will weigh climate-first and anti-climate candidates plus climate-focused ballot measures this year. Results could show just how committed we are to going green.
If Donald Trump hadn’t dismissed climate change concerns in 2020, he’d likely still be president.
That’s what researchers at University of Colorado Boulder found this month after studying how public opinion on climate change has affected the past two presidential elections.
The finding is surprising since polls show global warming is still rarely the top issue on voters’ minds as they head to the ballot box, with the economy, healthcare, crime and immigration taking precedence. But head researcher Matthew Burgess noted a growing majority of Americans — including most independents and a swath of Republicans — now accept the science on climate and see that it’s starting to sway other “kitchen table” issues they care about, such as the economy and public health.
