Cornell ILR Empire State Poll Shows New York State Residents, From Long Island to the North Country to Western NY, Support Strong Climate Action with High-Quality Job Creation

The Cornell ILR Empire State Poll (ESP) 2022, conducted between May and mid-August, captured data from 2,675 New Yorkers across every state region to understand perspectives on climate, jobs, and equity issues.

The poll shows that over 68% of New York residents are concerned about the impacts of climate change, and more than 70% of New Yorkers have been impacted by climate change in the past five years. The poll results also find that nearly 60% of New Yorkers think labor, industry and government leaders should do more to respond to climate change and nearly 65% support public investment in renewable energy projects to create high-quality jobs in New York State.

In fact, 54% of New Yorkers supported the creation of an NYS Commission to set a higher minimum wage in the clean energy industry. Nearly 53% of New Yorkers also said that their heating, cooling and electricity bills have become less affordable in the past 12 months. The energy burden on elderly New Yorkers was particularly stark, with 62% of New Yorkers over 56 years old saying their bills have become less and much less affordable.

See here for the Cornell ILR Climate Jobs Institute Empire State Poll results.