FINDINGS FROM THE CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE
SURVEY CONDUCTED FOR THE LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS
EDUCATION FUND [1]
The results
of this statewide survey of voters likely to participate
in November’s general election demonstrates that voters
in California care a great deal about the environment,
especially clean water and clean air, and want their elected
officials to do more to protect the state’s air, land
and water. Among the principal findings of the survey
are the following:
• Clean air and water rank as one of voters’
top issues.
• Voters indicate that issues involving clean
air and water are crucial to deciding how they vote.
• In a head-to-head match-up, a pro-environment
candidate easily defeats a candidate who favors fewer
regulations.
• Nearly all California voters are unsatisfied
with current environmental laws and how they are enforced.
Voters want either tougher enforcement of current environmental
laws or stronger laws.
• Voters firmly believe that it is possible to
have both a clean environment and a healthy economy.
• In terms of specific environmental issues, issues
revolving around growth, air, and water, especially
drinking water, emerge to the forefront.
• Growth takes on several different forms for voters,
including traffic, uncontrolled growth and sprawl, and
the loss of farmland and open space.
The balance of this summary reviews some of these findings
in more detail.
[1] From July 23 to 30, 2000, Fairbank,
Maslin, Maullin & Associates conducted a telephone
survey among 600 registered California voters who indicated
they are likely to vote in the November 2000 general election.
The margin of error for the survey is +/- 4.0 percent.
The margin of error among subgroups will be larger.
