Welcome back to the Data for Progress newsletter, your weekly update on our research, blog posts, and memes.

A Progressive Climate Innovation Agenda
Using federal funding for the innovation and improvement of green technologies is an essential part of the progressive climate agenda. In the past, however, federal energy innovation funding has been used to bolster fossil fuel use — and even when it’s been used to develop clean energy, many lawmakers have presented it as an alternative to regulating climate pollution.

In a new report released yesterday, Data for Progress outlined how we can avoid these pitfalls by ensuring that federal energy innovation projects satisfy what we call the “three E’s”:

• Expanding federal innovation activities
• Reducing emissions
• Promoting equitable access to climate solutions

Our polling makes it clear that voters want the government to invest in clean energy research and development (R&D). A majority of voters — 51 percent — support a trillion-dollar public investment to grow Department of Energy programs for funding green technologies.



Importantly, support is also strong for targeting R&D investments towards “hard-to-abate” industries — sectors like cement and steel production where it’s most difficult to reduce carbon emissions, and therefore where innovation funding would be especially impactful.

Read the full report here!


Memo: Democrats Should Go on Offense on Climate in 2020
President Trump and the GOP are attacking the Green New Deal — but Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden shouldn’t shy away from doubling down on aggressive climate action. 

In a new memo, released in partnership with Global Strategy Group and Climate Power 2020, we show that the Green New Deal isn’t only popular with young voters and voters of color — potential swing voters also want to go big on climate. On a generic Congressional ballot, Independents in battleground states prefer Democrats over Republicans by a 14-percentage-point margin. But when it’s noted that the Democratic candidate “supports taking bold government action to combat climate change,” while the Republican candidate doesn’t, this margin jumps to 47 points.

You read that right: framing the Congressional vote around climate action results in a 33-point gain for the Democrats.

Surely, Trump will try to spread false claims to scare voters away from the Green New Deal. But our research finds that voters are skeptical of many of these smears. For instance, the false claim that the Green New Deal would “ban airplanes, hamburgers, and gasoline powered cars” was rated by voters as one of the least believable arguments.




Is There Anything Trump Could Do to Make You Vote for Someone Else?
We asked the question above to Trump supporters across the country, and the responses were very interesting. Some said he’d have to kill someone to lose their vote. For others, he’d have to quit or die. But for many, the answer was simply “nothing.”

Check out this really cool tool created by DFP co-founder Brian Schaffner, which randomly generates one of their open-ended responses.



Schaffner also created an identical tool, but this time with the responses of Biden supporters — check that out too!


Data Bytes

• DFP Finds Sen. Ed Markey with a Lead Over Rep. Joe Kennedy III: The Democratic nomination race for the Massachusetts Senate is heating up. Kennedy’s campaign is claiming that momentum is on their side — but a DFP poll released yesterday shows that Massachusetts voters care more about progressive representation than a political dynasty. We find Ed Markey with a 50-43 edge over Kennedy.
   

• Voters Prioritize Protecting Social Security: Everything seems polarized nowadays, but one thing isn’t: support for Social Security. A new DFP poll finds that a majority of Democrats, independents, and Republicans think it’s important to prevent cuts to the program.
  
  

 
From The Blog
Voters Trust Biden on Climate Change
Voters Prioritize Protecting Social Security


Memos
Memo: A Path to Non-Police Enforcement of Civil Traffic Violations
Memo: Prosecutors Should Not Take Money from Police Unions
Report: A Progressive Climate Innovation Agenda
Policy Brief: A Progressive Climate Innovation Agenda - Federal Policy Recommendations
Memo: Voters Support a Progressive Climate Innovation Agenda
Memo: Water Regulation and Injustice in the United States


Media Hits
“None of us can go it alone if we want to make big change possible.” @Earth Justice
Climate Experts React to DNC Convention (w/ Data for Progress' Danielle Deiseroth) @The Climate Pod
Memo: Democrats Should Go on Offense on Climate in 2020 @Climate Power 2020
Is there anything Trump could do to make you vote for someone else? @Brian Schaffner
Is there anything Biden could do to make you vote for someone else? @Brian Schaffner
His side of the story: Nathan Phillips wants to talk about Covington @The Guardian
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez promises to reject contributions from police unions @Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Social Security Cuts Are a Major Issue in the 2020 Election, Data Reveals @Statesville Record and Landmark
Markey widens lead to 12 points in Massachusetts Senate race: poll @The Hill


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