Manchester, NH — Released today, two exclusive questions fielded for the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) in the University of New Hampshire’s Fall 2019 Granite State Poll found that the vast majority of New Hampshire residents support a move to 100% clean energy by 2050 and that many self-identified New Hampshire Democrats and Independents don’t think the presidential candidates are talking about climate change enough in the 2020 campaign.

The poll was fielded between October 4 and October 17, 2019 and surveyed 507 randomly selected New Hampshire adults. LCV worked with the University of New Hampshire Survey Center to ask:

1. Do you favor or oppose moving to 100% clean energy, such as solar and wind energy, by 2050? and

2. Do you think the Democratic candidates for President are talking about climate change in the presidential campaign too much, about the right amount, or not enough?

Granite State voters care deeply about the climate crisis. An October CNN/UNH poll found that climate change/the environment is the #1 issue, tied with health care, that is “most important to [Democratic primary voters’] vote in the presidential primary.” And New Hampshire voters don’t just think climate change is important — they want action on climate and they want to hear more from the presidential candidates. The LCV/UNH poll found that 71% of New Hampshire residents favor moving to 100% clean energy by 2050, including 94% support among self-identified Democrats. Additionally, 41% of self-identified New Hampshire Democrats and Independents think that there is “not enough” talk about climate change from the Democratic candidates for president in the campaign.

“The message is clear,” said Rob Werner, LCV’s New Hampshire State Director. “Any presidential candidate who wants to win the New Hampshire primary needs to prove to the people of the Granite State that climate action, including an ambitious plan that gets us to 100% clean energy no later than 2050, will be a day one priority and an every day priority if they’re elected.”

Most of the leading 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates have released climate change plans that match the urgency of the crisis, but UNH’s recent polling shows that the candidates have more work to do to demonstrate to New Hampshire voters that climate action is a top priority. Through the Change the Climate 2020 program, LCV is calling on all of the 2020 presidential candidates to further build on their commitments to tackle the climate crisis by discussing specific climate solutions in every single stump speech, expanding upon their plans to prioritize the climate crisis beginning on day one as president, in the first 100 days, and every single day, and meeting and working with the frontline communities most impacted by the climate crisis and those suffering disproportionately from exposure to toxic pollution.

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