A new Zogby poll commissioned by the National Wildlife Federation found that 71% of respondents supported the Waxman-Markey energy and climate bill recently passed in the House of Representatives.  Only 19% of respondents said they were “strongly opposed” to the House bill, indicating that polluting industries and their front groups have failed in their grandiose efforts to convince the public that the House bill amounted to a sinister, hidden “energy tax”.

Fifty-four percent of respondents to the Zogby poll agree that the Senate needs to act immediately to pass legislation to fight global warming. “We need a new energy plan right now that invests in American, renewable energy sources like wind and solar, in order to create clean energy jobs, address global warming and reduce our dependency on foreign oil,” the 54% agreed.

While support for Congressional action is overwhelming, 45% of respondents believe Congress should be doing more to address the threat of climate change, indicating that voters want the Senate to take much stronger action than the House bill envisioned. “More than 40% of every age group also wants more from Congress when it comes to taking action to combat global warming,” according to a press release summarizing the Zogby poll.  Only 28% believe that Congress is doing too much already.

Two-thirds (68%) of likely voters believe that a new energy policy focused on renewables and efficiency will not result in job losses.  In fact, a majority (51%) believes that strong action to fight climate change would spur job growth, as President Obama has argued.  Another 17% believe that energy legislation will not have any affect on American jobs.  Only 29 percent feel efforts to promote clean energy will cost American jobs, again indicating that most people aren’t buying the doom and gloom fear-mongering of polluting interests and their front groups.

“Support for action on clean energy and energy efficiency was strong coming out of the election, and it is still strong today.  Even when presented with the concerns some have raised about the potential costs associated with this legislation, most likely voters still want the Senate to act quickly to bring about a new energy plan for America,” said Zogby International Research Analyst Sam Rodgers.