Renewable energy tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles have lost support among Democrats and independents compared to just three years ago, according to a new poll.
About 58% of Democrats favor the provision of tax credits for electric vehicles, down from 71% in 2022, an AP-NORC poll finds. The drop among independents was more drastic, with 28% in favor of the tax credits compared to 49% in 2022.
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Additionally, Republicans saw a 6-point drop in favor of EV tax credits.
Regarding tax credits for solar panels, support among Democrats and independents remained relatively unchanged. Roughly 72% of Democrats and half of independents still favored those tax credits, down from 79% and 59%, respectively.
Support among Republicans similarly fell, with an 8-point drop from 50% to 42%.
The poll results are notable, considering Democratic lawmakers pushed for increased investment in and development of renewable energy over fossil fuels during the Biden administration. The Trump administration has been rolling back related tax credits.
Enthusiasm for the expansion of offshore wind and solar panel farms is also trending downward. About 68% of Democrats, a 15-point decrease, and 46% of independents, an 18-point drop, back solar farms. Similarly, 57% of Democrats and 39% of independents support offshore wind farms this year. In 2022, 74% of Democrats and 58% of independents were in favor of offshore wind.
Republicans have been more consistent in their opposition to offshore wind and solar energy, AP-NORC said.
The decline in support of renewable energy sources among Democrats and independents comes after the Trump administration has begun prioritizing offshore drilling for natural oil and gas in the place of offshore wind.
President Donald Trump previously signed executive orders to expand offshore drilling and to block the approval of new offshore wind projects.
For months, Trump has maintained that windmills kill birds and whales and harm the environment. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. echoed Trump’s stance, arguing that offshore windmills need to be banned because they harm wildlife and waste money.
“Many of these [whales] are critically endangered species,” Kennedy said in a Sunday interview. “We are going to exterminate these whales. When you put a windmill up, the cod disappear, the groundfish disappear. The fishermen are going out of business.”
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“The energy that they produce is three times the cost of an onshore wind plant,” he added. “They make no economic sense.”
Kennedy noted he speaks with Trump about his opposition to offshore wind energy “all the time.”