Poll shows support for EPA’s climate rules

Two-thirds of United States residents support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to reduce power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions, according to a poll released Wednesday by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal.

The survey found that 37 percent of respondents strongly support EPA’s proposal unveiled June 2, and 30 somewhat support it. Twenty-nine percent oppose it, the poll found.

More generally, 57 percent of respondents said they’d approve of a policy that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, if even if meant higher electricity bills. That is the highest approval rating for that question since NBC and the Wall Street Journal started asking it.

Only 31 percent agreed that climate change is a serious problem that needs immediate action, but that was the highest response since 2007.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal survey came to a similar conclusion as a Bloomberg News survey a week prior. That June 11 poll found that 62 percent of United States residents would be willing to pay more in their electricity bills to reduce carbon pollution, and only 33 percent would not.

But a June 12 poll sponsored by the National Mining Association concluded that most voters in eight coal-heavy states would not vote for a Senate candidate who supports EPA’s proposal. Among those same voters, 47.1 percent supported the power plant emissions proposal and 37.3 percent opposed it.