“By an overwhelming 80%-10%, those surveyed say the United States should transition to mostly clean or renewable energy by 2030”
A USA TODAY/Rock the Vote Millennial Poll finds an emerging generation that is more pragmatic than ideological and not yet firmly aligned with either political party. Across partisan lines, millennials have reached a generational consensus on some of the major issues that have proved divisive for their elders.
The online survey by Ipsos, the first of four this year in conjunction with Rock the Vote, was taken last Monday through Thursday of 1,141 adults, ages 18 through 34. The credibility interval, akin to a margin of error, is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
The top issue by far for millennials is the economy, including concerns about jobs, the minimum wage and paid leave. Their second-ranking issue is specific to their stage of life: college affordability and student debt. That’s followed closely by foreign policy and terrorism, health care and guns. A combination of those who cite climate change and those who cite energy puts that issue in the top rank as well.
Brianne Stone, 29, of Huntsville, Ala., says her biggest concern is global warming. “We aren’t going to take any actions, and by the time that we do, it’s going to be the point that it’s too late,” she says. She wants the candidates “first and foremost to admit that it’s a real thing.”
“If we don’t have a place to live, then it doesn’t really make sense to worry about anything else,” agrees Scott McGeary, 34, of Seattle, citing the threat of climate change to the future of the planet.
By an overwhelming 80%-10%, those surveyed say the United States should transition to mostly clean or renewable energy by 2030, an ambitious goal that would surely require the leadership of the next president. By more than 2-1, they say the government should invest more heavily in buses and rail.
