National Poll Finds U.S. Latino Voters Overwhelmingly Support Policies to Protect the Ocean and Act on Plastic Pollution
National Poll Finds U.S. Latino Voters Overwhelmingly Support Policies to Protect the Ocean and Act on Plastic Pollution
Survey findings show U.S. Latinos embrace Federal and State ocean policies to protect communities
Related Materials
• Full Survey
• Survey Memo
• Fact Sheet in English and Spanish
• Livestreamed Poll Launch on YouTube
• White House Lauds Azul for Landmark Ocean Poll
• Survey in Spanish
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The U.S. Latino segment of the United States electorate is strongly committed to reducing harms to the ocean, seeking government intervention to protect the ocean and support the prevention of plastic pollution, curbing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, and they’re willing to see the nation pay more – and are even willing to pay more themselves – to advance ocean justice.
These are the findings according to a new national poll, the first of its kind, conducted by Barreto Segura Partners (BSP) Research for Azul, an environmental justice organization working with grassroots communities to protect the coasts and the ocean. Overall, the survey greatly dispels myths about Latino apathy on the ocean and environment.
“Azul’s goal was to determine the level of support from U.S. Latino communities for federal and state policies that reduce harms to our ocean,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, executive director and founder of Azul. “The willingness from U.S. Latinos to pay to implement these policies, and the level of belief in the science of ocean degradation and the climate crisis is overwhelmingly high – these kinds of beliefs put us ahead of the curve.”
“The Ocean Project is extremely excited that Azul has commissioned this groundbreaking, comprehensive national research on U.S. Latinos and the ocean,” said Bill Mott, executive director of The Ocean Project. “This important research by Azul comes at a time when it is vital the ocean conservation movement looks to community leads and grows more inclusively for a more equitable and sustainable society and a healthy blue planet. I believe these national results, the reflections of U.S. Latino voters will encourage more collaborative efforts to move us forward together to protect the ocean — one of our greatest public resources, and ensure a better future for generations to come.”
(*The Ocean Project is an Azul ally, though it did not participate in the commissioning of this poll.*)
According to the 2022 Azul U.S. Latinos and the Ocean Poll:
U.S. Latinos are Overwhelmingly Supportive of Azul’s Ocean Justice and Climate Policy Goals, Including Limiting Offshore Drilling and Coastal Access
• 89% of U.S. Latinos believe in protecting the environment as a means of protecting their communities
• 86% of U.S. Latinos believe the government has a responsibility to preserve the ocean and public lands for the enjoyment of future generations
• 87% say that Congress should create new national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges and tribal protected areas to protect historic sites or areas for outdoor recreation
• 78% say they would support actions to ban offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, and replace them with renewable fuels like solar and wind
Ocean Crisis is Real and Requires Governmental Action – Not Expectations of Magical Reversals
• 86% of U.S. Latinos agree that plastic pollution poses a health risk
• 86% of U.S. Latinos also affirm that plastic pollution will get worse unless the U.S. government intervenes to curb and prevent it.• 67% of U.S. Latinos disagreed with the statement that polluted oceans can clean themselves.
• Only 30% of people agree that the ocean is so large, it is unlikely that humans will cause lasting damage to them.
U.S. Latinos Seek Specific Policy Actions
• 92% of respondents supported doing more to prevent plastic pollution with
• 80% of respondents supporting the ban of single use plastics• 85% of respondents agreed the government should implement the strongest possible protections for ocean areas, even if it is costly
• 74% of respondents supported stricter regulation of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, even if it meant paying more for fewer fish
• 66% of respondents supported a ban on offshore drilling, even if it meant paying more for gas
• 80% of Latinos supported increasing the share of both protected lands and waters in the United States to 30% of each. Of these:
• 84% would still support it if it cost the U.S. government more• 66% would still support it even if it increased the cost of goods.
U.S. Latinos Care About Ocean-Climate Issues
• 96% of respondents cited environmental issues like pollution and global warming as being personally important to them.
• In state-specific findings, the data shows that Florida Latinos hold stronger environmental views than other traditionally progressive states and regions, suggesting that political ideology is not the only indicator on individual concerns of climate change, but the threat climate change poses to where people live, plays a significant role in shaping opinions as well.
Spanish-Speaking Households Shatter Stereotypes
• Spanish-speaking households are generally more progressive on climate-issues than English-speaking households – disparities between English and Spanish-speaking households were uncovered.
• Spanish-speaking households are often more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, may have experienced its effects in countries of origin, and their strong sense of community leads them to want to unite in solving ocean justice and environmental issues.
• When surveyed, 72% of respondents from Spanish-speaking households cited environmental issues as being very important to them compared to only 51% of respondents from English-speaking households. This pattern of Spanish-speaking households being more concerned than English-speaking households held for nearly every specific environmental issue
Methods: BSP Research, known for their data scientists who have deep expertise in research methodology, modeling and data analytics of communities of color, surveyed 1,900 U.S. Latino registered voters across the U.S. by web (75%) and telephone (25%) to understand views and perspectives on climate change and protecting the environment. In addition to a national sample, respondents were oversampled in California (300), Texas (300), and Florida (225), as well as the New England (250), New York-New Jersey-Connecticut (225), and Chicago metro (225) regions. National estimates use post-stratification weighting to assure that oversamples do not distort national estimates. The survey was available in English or Spanish (according to respondent preference), and ran from May 26 to June 7, 2022, with an overall margin of error of +/- 2.3%.