Biden brags about his environmental record to win young voters, but most have no idea what he's done to fight climate change

President Joe Biden. AP Photo/Susan Walsh

• President Biden is banking that his environmental record will sway young voters to his side.
• But many voters aged 30 or younger have little knowledge of his administration’s climate policies.
• Biden’s climate actions could be the key to him unlocking the votes of many undecided young voters.

President Joe Biden has sought to use his pro-environment policies to boost his support among young voters, but most of them have little to no knowledge of his administration’s actions to tackle climate change, according to a recent survey.

A CBS News/YouGov poll of 2,230 adults conducted in April showed that 28 percent of respondents aged 30 or younger knew “nothing at all” about Biden’s climate actions, while 31 percent of respondents in this age group didn’t know much about his administration’s policy stances.

Meanwhile, 33 percent of respondents had some knowledge of Biden’s policies, while only 7 percent said they had seen or read “a lot” about his administration’s work.

The survey also showed that 52 percent of respondents under 30 believed that climate change was an issue that needed to be dealt with “right now,” with 20 percent stating it was an issue to tackle over the next few years and 13 percent indicating it was an issue to be handled in the more distant future.

Since taking office, Biden has placed a high priority on climate issues — a monumental shift from former President Donald Trump’s political alliance with the fossil-fuel industry — as he’s touted tax credits for Americans to purchase electric vehicles and promoted rebates to make homes more energy efficient.

On his first day in White House, Biden rejoined the Paris climate accord, bringing the United States back into fold among nearly 200 countries that have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by Biden in 2022, made significant investments in the expansion of clean energy tax credits and included nearly $10 billion for rural electric cooperatives to purchase or deploy clean energy, among other measures.

And many of the administration’s climate policies are seemingly popular with the American public.

When respondents in the CBS News/YouGov survey were asked if they favored tax credits to boost the energy efficiency of homes, 63 percent agreed, while only 17 percent were opposed to the policy.

Seventy percent of respondents in the survey indicated that they backed regulations that would reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in drinking water, while only 9 percent opposed such efforts.

The most polarizing Biden policy in the survey was the allowance of tax credits for electric vehicles, but even it had a plurality of support (43 percent) among respondents. Meanwhile, 35 percent of respondents opposed such credits, and 21 percent of respondents indicated they hadn’t heard about it.

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