Democrats trust Harris on climate change slightly more than Biden: Poll

Democrats have slightly more trust in Vice President Harris’s ability to address climate change than President Biden, according to a new poll.

The Associated Press-NORC Research Center survey, released this week, found 85 percent of Democrats have “a lot” or “some” trust in Harris to handle climate change, while only about three-quarters said the same of Biden.

Democrats younger than 45 were even more likely to trust the vice president over the president, with 3 in 4 saying they have “a lot” or “some” trust in Harris to address climate problems, while nearly 60 percent said the same about Biden. Older Democrats, meanwhile, are more likely than younger ones to trust either Biden or Harris, the AP noted.

Still, younger Democrats are more likely to feel the emotional weight of climate change, per the poll. About 6 in 10 Democrats younger than 45 said “anxious” describes their emotion around the subject extremely or very well, compared to about one-third of older Democrats.

The poll comes just weeks after Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket since he dropped out of the race. Harris has energized the party’s base, narrowing the gap with former President Trump, who maintained the lead when facing Biden.

The enthusiasm was quickly seen in environmental advocates and climate hawks, who have pointed to Harris’s history of investigating the oil industry and support for the Green New Deal — a suite of climate actions introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2019. Harris has supported the legislation.

While environmental issues have not been a major part of her portfolio as vice president, advocates told The Hill last month Harris is seen as a figure who has connections on the issue and can boost enthusiasm among younger and more progressive voters.

As a senator and presidential candidate, Harris staked out positions to Biden’s left on climate and energy issues. She previously supported a fracking ban when she ran for the Democratic nomination, but she seemingly reversed her opinion earlier this month.

Fracking is a method of extracting oil and gas from shale rocks and involves injecting the rocks with a mix of water, sand, and chemicals. Using this method is a key part of the “shale revolution” that cemented the U.S.’s role as a leading oil and gas producer.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,143 adults was conducted July 25-29. The margin of error for all respondents is 4.1 percentage points.