Voters Support the EPA’s Proposed Vehicle Rules on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By Kevin Hanley
In light of newly proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on heavy-duty and light- and medium-duty vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards, Data for Progress conducted a national survey from June 29 to July 3, 2023, of 1,491 likely voters, including oversamples of the Midwest and Battery Belt (Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky) regions. The poll gauged support for the new EPA rules and a transition to electric vehicles (EVs) more broadly.
The essential takeaway is that voters support the new EPA rules limiting vehicle pollution for both heavy-duty (68% support) and light- and medium-duty vehicles (64%), as well as a transition to electric vehicles (56%).
Notably, we find that even a majority of Republicans support the new EPA rules for heavy-duty vehicles (56%) and a plurality support the rules for light- and medium-duty vehicles (46% support, 42% oppose). Regional support for both sets of rules is also strong, with the light- and medium-duty rules garnering 64% support in the Midwest and 60% in the Battery Belt, and the heavy-duty rules receiving even more support: 68% in the Midwest and 69% in the Battery Belt.
In addition, voters strongly support EV manufacturing plants being built in their state (72% overall support), including a majority of Republicans (58%) and strong majorities in the Midwest (77%) and Battery Belt (72%) regions.
Cost concerns are on the decline as voters are turning their attention to the EV infrastructure challenges confronting elected leaders. While past research has shown cost as far and away the top concern related to EVs, we now find that concern about a lack of charging stations (23%) slightly edges out cost (22%) as the top concern for likely voters.
The drop in concerns related to cost is encouraging and reflects advocates' success in shifting the conversation surrounding EVs. The premise that a transition to EVs would result in a ban on gas-powered vehicles is of low concern to voters (8%). Just 14% of Republicans report this as being their top concern.
The bottom line is that the newly proposed EPA rules, limiting vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, are widely popular across partisanship and key regions of the country. Encouragingly, cost concerns are on the decline, though still a top concern, as focus shifts to charging infrastructure availability and battery range.
Kevin Hanley (@kebhanley) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From June 29 to July 3, 2023, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,491 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents, including oversamples of the Midwest and Battery Belt (GA, TN, KY) regions. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.