Latino Advocacy Group Urges Harris To Engage Young Latino Men On Clean Energy

A Latino-focused environmental group has urged Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign to broaden its clean energy message to connect with young Latino men, a group that's been hard for the Democratic nominee to reach.

Abortion has been a key issue that has helped the Democratic presidential nominee gain strong support from Latina women, with polls showing a big difference in how Hispanic men and women support her. However, the connection between clean energy and the economy, which is the most important issue for Latinos, hasn't been fully explored.

A poll by Climate Power en Acción shows that plans to boost clean energy production appeal more to Latino men than Latinas.

Democratic pollster BSP Research conducted the poll that found 72% of Latino respondents aged 30 to 49 favor the clean energy policy, and 70% of Latinos aged 18 to 29 also support it. However, among all male respondents, only 65% support clean energy plans, showing that older Latino men are less interested in the issue.

Latinas in these age groups were less enthusiastic: 65% of Latinas aged 30 to 49 supported the clean energy proposals, and 63% of Latinas aged 18 to 29 did as well. Overall, 63% of all respondents viewed clean energy economy plans positively.

The poll was done among 900 Hispanic voters in Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8%.

The Climate Power poll showed that 38% of people haven't heard much about Harris's clean energy plan, and 50% said the same about former President Trump's policies. Only 18% said they felt informed about Harris's plan, and 17% said the same about Trump's plan.

In a memo from BSP, the Biden administration's key green energy law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), isn't well known among Latinos but "has room for growth in awareness; however, increasing clean energy production in the US gets very high marks," as per The Hill.

Reaching young Latinos has been a challenge for Harris, even though the Vice President is very popular among Latinas.

Earlier this week, a Telemundo poll showed 55% of voters support the Democratic presidential candidate, while 33% back her Republican rival in California. This contrasts with the recent Florida poll, where Trump was leading Harris among Hispanic voters.