Democrats have slightly more confidence in Vice President Harris’ ability to tackle climate change than President Biden, according to a new poll.
The Associated Press-NORC Research Center poll released this week found that 85 percent of Democrats have “a lot” or “some” confidence in Harris to address climate change, while only about three-quarters said the same of Biden .
Democrats under 45 were even more likely to trust the vice president than the president, with 3 in 4 saying they have “a lot” or “some” confidence in Harris to solve climate problems, while nearly 60 in 100 said the same about Biden. Meanwhile, older Democrats are more likely than younger ones to trust Biden or Harris, the AP noted.
Still, younger Democrats are more likely to feel the emotional toll of climate change, according to the news outlet. About 6 in 10 Democrats under 45 said “anxious” describes their emotion around the issue very or very well, compared with about a third of older Democrats.
The poll comes just weeks after Haris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket since he dropped out of the race. Harris energized the party’s base, closing the gap with former President Trump, who maintained his lead when facing Biden.
Enthusiasm was quickly seen among environmental advocates and climate hawks, who pointed to Harris’ history of investigating the oil industry and supporting the Green New Deal — a set of climate actions introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and by the deputy. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) in 2019. Harris supported the legislation.
While environmental issues have not been a major part of her portfolio as vice president, advocates told The Hill last month that Harris is seen as a figure who has connections on the issue and can increase enthusiasm among younger voters and more progressive.
As a senator and presidential candidate, Harris has taken positions to the left of Biden on climate and energy issues. She previously supported a fracking ban when she ran for the Democratic nomination, but apparently changed her mind earlier this month.
Fracking is a method of extracting oil and gas from shale rocks and involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the rocks. The use of this method is a fundamental part of the “shale revolution” that has consolidated the US role as the leading producer of oil and gas.
The AP-NORC poll of 1,143 adults was conducted July 25-29. The margin of error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
