Nov 8, 2019 - Politics & Policy
A fracking ban could be a dicey proposal for Democrats in 2020
- Ben Geman, author of Axios Generate


New polling of four battleground states shows the Green New Deal concept is highly popular, while calls to ban hydraulic fracturing could create political headwinds.
The big picture: Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have embraced both ideas, while Joe Biden has not called for a fracking ban.
The Kaiser Family Foundation and Cook Political Report surveyed voters in the "Blue Wall" of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — once Democratic strongholds that Trump narrowly won — and Minnesota, where he narrowly lost.
- They found a lot of backing for the Green New Deal. 67% of swing voters and 92% of self-reported Democratic voters in the four-state region like it.
- However, the fracking proposal is not popular with swing voters at 40% combined in the region, while among Democratic voters, it's got modest support at 54%.
The big picture: Phrasing matters, so here's how they did it...
- Pollsters asked about "a Green New Deal that would address climate change through new regulations and increases in government spending on green jobs and energy-efficient infrastructure."
- "A ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling method that uses high-pressure water and chemicals to extract natural gas and oil."
Of note: The combined margin of error for the Democrats is plus-or-minus 4% on those energy questions, and 3% for swing voters.
- But error margins for the specific states are higher, at 6% to 7%, so keep that in mind when assessing those results.
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