Poll: Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly want action on climate

Great news about our fellow Pennsylvanians: According to a poll released last week by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), residents of the Commonwealth are downright bullish on having state government, led by Gov. Tom Wolf, take strong action to limit carbon pollution from power plants.

Some surprising highlights of the poll, according to NRDC:

• 82 percent of Pennsylvanians endorse a state-crafted plan to curb carbon pollution -- as we'll need to in the near future, in response to the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan Rule. This includes strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
• Even stronger numbers: 93 percent of Pennsylvanians support the expansion of utility programs to increase energy efficiency in homes, thus saving homeowners money.
• Better yet: 97 percent of Pennsylvanians see the tremendous promise of energy efficiency. More than 80 percent of us want to boost the state's use of renewable power, including solar and wind.
• And toss that stale old chestnut about "jobs versus the environment" out onto the compost heap, please: More than 60 percent of Pennsylvanians say using more energy from true renewables will create jobs.

Dig into the polling results yourself. Then you'll be more than ready the next time someone tries to tell you we're not ready to act on climate change.

Pennsylvanians are leading the call to a clean energy economy.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets at @joybergey.