Democrats Are Most Likely to Say Climate and Energy Provisions in Inflation Reduction Act Are ‘Just Right’

Following the Senate's recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $369 billion in funding for climate and clean energy, Democratic voters are most likely to believe the overall package and its key provisions are "just right" for addressing climate change, according to a Morning Consult/Politico survey. A notable share of Democrats, however, did say the bill could have done more to address climate change.

At least half of Democrats say climate and energy measures are just right, with exception for methane fee

• A plurality of Democrats (43%) said the climate package was “just right” to address climate change, while about a third said it “doesn’t go far enough” and only 1 in 10 said the package “goes too far.” 
• At least half of Democrats said the individual climate provisions were just right, with one exception: 42% said the measure to charge a fee to the oil and gas industry for excessive methane emissions was just right, while another 30% said it doesn’t go far enough.
• Among all voters, 3 in 10 believe the overall climate package is just right and an equal share said it goes too far to address climate change, while a slightly smaller share said it doesn’t go far enough (23%). Over half of Republican voters said the package “goes too far.”
• Concerning the individual climate and energy provisions, roughly half of Republican voters said the measures go too far to address climate change, though 2 in 5 said offering tax credits for renewable energy items in households is just right. Voters overall were most likely to say that offering tax credits for consumers with renewable household energy sources is just right (48%).

Climate package includes wins for both clean energy, oil and gas industry

The Inflation Reduction Act passed the Senate on Sunday with a whopping $369 billion in climate and energy provisions. But despite the historic levels of funding, some have noted the advancement of stalled oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska in the package, calling into question whether the provisions go far enough to tackle climate change. 

While the measure has won some support from the oil and gas industry, it would mandate companies pay more for drilling on federal land in the western United States with higher royalty rates and bids, although it’s unclear if federal lands and waters are where companies want to drill anyway. 

Regardless of the expanded oil and gas leases, the bill still includes some other wins for the industry, including boosting existing subsidies for carbon capture and establishing a new 10-year tax credit for hydrogen production, two of the newest clean energy pivots made by the industry. 

The Aug. 5-7, 2022 survey was conducted among a representative sample of approximately 2,005 registered voters, with an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.