The majority of voters in Pennsylvania oppose restrictions on natural gas production while a plurality say that they trust former President Donald Trump more than President Joe Biden on the issue of affordable energy, according to a new poll.
The poll, put out by the Commonwealth Foundation, a Pennsylvania based public policy group, comes as both Trump and Biden attempt to win voters in the battleground state, one key for Trump’s victory in 2016 and Biden’s in 2020. Those polled were also skeptical of climate initiatives that would restrict domestic energy production and said that the issue of energy affordability was a major issue for them heading into 2024.
“Pennsylvania voters have made it clear they prioritize energy affordability and reliability over climate alarmism,” said André Béliveau, the Commonwealth Foundation’s senior manager of energy policy. “Likewise, Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support economic freedom and oppose excessive government regulations and red tape.”
When asked who they trusted more with energy, 37% said they backed Trump, 34% supported Biden, 15% were undecided, 4% favored Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the rest were split by a variety of other candidates who have since dropped out of the 2024 race.
At a briefing on the polling attended by The Daily Wire, Béliveau said that the data showed that Pennsylvanians were prioritizing “affordability and reliability over anything else,” especially over “climate alarmism.”
“Energy affordability is going to be a top priority for voters in Pennsylvania, especially as we’re leading up to the elections in November,” he said. Fifty-four percent of voters said they opposed Biden’s recent decision to pause the approval of new liquefied gas exports, a decision that has been questioned by Democrat Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman as Pennsylvania is one of the largest state exporters of natural gas.
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The poll also found that 55% of voters agreed with a statement saying that there was too much red tape on energy production leading to higher costs, while 30% said that there were not enough penalties for companies over their carbon emissions. Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed said that affordable energy should be a higher priority for the government as opposed to focusing on climate change.
When asked by The Daily Wire why energy prices were continuing to rise, Béliveau said that the amount of permitting and regulations involved in developing natural gas had slowed down how quickly natural gas could get into the market. He said that many regulations pushed energy producers into neighboring states with fewer regulations like West Virginia and Ohio.
