Energy & Environment

Poll: Two-thirds of voters support Biden climate plan

New polling indicates Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s climate plan is doing well with voters even as they are split on their support for fracking.

Results from a Tuesday survey conducted by The New York Times and Sienna College found that 66 percent of voters said they support Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan.

Biden has made the plan part of his economic stimulus efforts, a way to create jobs while transitioning to clean energy. He calls for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, with the electric sector doing so by 2035.

President Trump has not released a formal climate plan, and the poll did not cover his position on climate change.

But the results also show voters are split on fracking — a favorite talking point of Trump’s.

Forty-four percent of those polled said they support the method of oil extraction, while 42 percent said they are opposed and 14 percent were neutral.

Trump has repeatedly said Biden wants to ban fracking, which Biden has vehemently denied. Biden’s plan does not call for a ban on fracking, but some of his past comments have left voters confused.

His climate plan does bar new oil drilling of public lands, while a transition to net-zero emissions would limit the fossil fuel industry.

“I am not banning fracking,” Biden said in Pennsylvania in August. “Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.” 

The Times poll found Biden in the lead overall, getting 50 percent of likely voters to Trump’s 41 percent. 

It was conducted between Oct. 15 and 18, and has a 3.4 percent margin of error.