By Bob Plain in Rhode Island’s Future
Lost in Rhode Island’s
Presidential primary election were some other promising poll numbers for
progressives.
A Public Policy Polling
survey found 3 of 4 Rhode Islanders would be more likely to
support a candidate who would drastically decrease our dependence on fossil
fuels and a Brown University
Taubman Center poll found 55 percent of Rhode Islanders want to
legalize recreational marijuana.
Climate change
The PPP poll of 1,179
likely Rhode Island primary voters found that 53 percent of Rhode Islanders
were “much more likely” to “vote for a candidate who believes the United States
must do all it can to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels by embracing
measures like solar, wind, and renewable fuels, like biofuels,” and 22 percent
“somewhat more likely” to support such a candidate.
Only 26 percent of
Rhode Islanders don’t want to support a climate champion for elected office
with 11 percent “somewhat less likely” to support such a candidate, 7 percent
were “much less likely” and 8 percent said it wouldn’t make a difference.
Even a majority of
Rhode Island Republicans want to support a climate champion, the PPP poll
found.
A total of 63 percent
of Republicans were more likely to support a candidate who would decrease
dependence on fossil fuels, with 37 percent much more likely and 26 percent
somewhat more likely.
For Republicans, 27
percent were less likely to vote for a candidate who would invest in
alternative energy and 10 percent of Democrats.
The PPP survey parsed
its climate change question in terms of fossil fuels contributing to terrorism. It asked: “You may have
heard about a connection between fossil fuels and terrorism. Even though the US
doesn’t buy oil directly from regimes hostile to us and our allies, our demand
for oil does drive up world prices, which benefits hostile regimes. Knowing
this, would you be much more likely, somewhat more likely, somewhat less
likely, or much less likely to vote for a candidate who believes the United
States must do all it can to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels by embracing
measures like solar, wind, and renewable fuels, like biofuels?”
Cannabis
The Brown poll posed
a more straight-forward question about marijuana. “Thinking beyond medical
marijuana, do you support or oppose changing the law in Rhode Island to
regulate and tax the use of marijuana, similarly to alcohol,” it asked.
Much of Rhode Island
does, with 55 percent answering yes. 21 percent strongly support taxing and
regulating cannabis and another 34 percent support it. Only 4 percent were
neutral, 24 percent oppose the idea and 12 percent strongly oppose ending
prohibition. 5 percent said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
Young Rhode Islanders
overwhelmingly want marijuana to be legal, with 72 percent of people age 18 to
44 supporting the idea. Older Rhode Islanders were evenly split with 42.9
percent supporting legalization and 42.1 percent opposed. 56.3 percent of
people age 45 to 64 support it and 37.7 percent are opposed.
The poll showed people
were more likely to support regulating cannabis like alcohol the more education
and income they had.
It also showed that
white people were both more likely to support and oppose legalization than
black people. 55 percent of white people polled said they support legalization
and 36 percent were opposed compared with 50 percent of black respondents who
support it and 30 percent who are opposed.
Conversely black respondents were
more than twice as likely as whites to either refuse to answer or remain
neutral.
Bob Plain is
the editor/publisher of Rhode Island's Future. Previously, he's worked as a
reporter for several different news organizations both in Rhode Island and
across the country.