Many Young Voters Don’t See a Difference Between Clinton and Trump on Climate

One presidential candidate says that scientists who work on climate change are “practically calling it a hoax” and wants to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency.  The other calls climate change “an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time.”  And about four out of 10 millennials in battleground states think there is no difference between their views on the issue.

Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate group released polling at the Democratic National Convention this past week focused on millennials in 11 battleground states, conducted by Global Strategy Group in June and early July.

According to the poll, 21 percent of millennials are Bernie Sanders supporters who are so disillusioned with Clinton that they wouldn’t plan to vote for her in a general election if there are third-party candidates as well.  Young voters are one of the more unpredictable factors in the 2016 election, because they’re more likely than other age groups to support Sanders and less likely to vote in general.  Democrats run the risk of losing Sanders holdouts to a third-party candidate.  Nearly seven out of 10 Sanders supporters believe there’s no daylight between Trump and Clinton on the issues they care about.

That is alarming news for Clinton.  But the numbers could change.  NextGen’s findings suggest that if Democrats emphasize climate change and clean energy, they could make progress in winning over this demographic.

Young voters polled, including pro-Sanders voters, rank clean air and water and switching to renewable energy as high priorities.  Three-quarters are more likely to support a candidate who wants to transition the U.S. away from fossil fuels.  On the flip side, Trump’s position on the EPA could hurt him.  Millennials like the EPA, the polling found — about as much as they like Beyoncé.

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