Georgia-based Latino organization GALEO and BSP Research recently released the results of their survey Puente para la Gente, which covered a range of issues — one of them being climate and environment.
Approximately 500 people were surveyed across Georgia from Aug. 19 through Sept. 18, 2023. The survey had 29 questions total with some questions having subset questions under a single question.
Elisa Covarrubias, Deputy Director at GALEO, said climate and the environment was one of the leading issues of concern for respondents after things like good wages, jobs and housing. According to the survey, 12 percent of those surveyed responded with “combating climate change and pollution” as one of their top three important issues they want politicians in Georgia to address. Overall, out of 19 categories that the question offered to rank as most important issues, it ranked eighth.
Climate change activists ranked 63.8 out of 100 on a scale of favorability, with 100 being favorable. This was only behind veterans, undocumented immigrants, and scientists with scores of 70.5, 68.3 and 67.6, respectively.
One of the reasons she believes climate is so important, Covarrubias said, is the fact that many families have been displaced or knew people who have been displaced due to climate.
“In the Latino community, we still have a lot of people who still have relatives in Latin America, and that could be the [Caribbean] islands, Central America, South America, etc.” Covarrubias said. “And so that actually has been a reason that many people have had to leave their homes, and some people even say having to relocate within the United States is a concern for them as well.”
Hundreds of thousands of people have already been forced to leave their homes due to natural disasters, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. While it can be challenging which disasters are caused or amplified by climate change, most experts agree natural disasters are happening more frequently and severely due to human-caused global warming.
The Biden administration has been one of the most active administrations on climate initiatives. This week, the administration announced $2 Billion to Fund Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants. Other notable initiatives include the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Law, which each allocated hundreds of billions of dollars for climate initiatives including climate justice, remediation, clean energy investment, resilience, infrastructure and more.
Some of this money will inevitably fall into Georgia through various programs, grants, rebates, investments, etc. Despite this, there appears to be a disconnect in these initiatives and programs reaching the Latino community in Georgia. According to the survey, respondents said overall 49 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Republicans “don’t care too much about Hispanics/Latinos”. 41 percent responded saying Democrats are doing a good job reaching out in general, and only 24 percent said Republicans are doing a good job of reaching out to the community.
“A lot of people are unaware of the Biden administration’s investment in climate programs and infrastructure programs here in Georgia. But when you talk to them about these programs, they are interested in learning more — especially when the programs are tied to economic opportunities such as job training,” Covarrubias said. “So they’re interested in having these parties reach out to them and let them know these things, but at the moment they don’t feel like that’s being done.”
Climate is an issue, it seems, that is important regardless of politics. 40 percent of respondents see themselves as political moderates, with somewhat liberal at 20 percent and somewhat conservative at 12 percent. Yet 85 percent of those surveyed responded with climate change needing to be a priority to some degree in Georgia this year. Additionally, 92 percent answered “very important” or “somewhat important” to how important the environment and environmental issues like pollution and global warming are to them.
Georgia is unique in that its largest city and metro area are relatively landlocked, with the nearest ocean shoreline hours away, giving Metro Atlantans and many parts of Georgia buffer from tropical storms and hurricanes. Additionally, it is not as susceptible to flooding — though poor infrastructure planning can lead to flooding along with heavier and more frequent rains as it has in legacy neighborhoods.
The state also has a relatively temperate climate and hasn’t seen climate disasters like wildfires in the western part of the country. Couple that with relatively few tornadoes compared to the Midwest, and Georgia overall fares pretty well when it comes to climate change. At least on the natural disaster surface level.
But Georgia has also been at the center of a Florida-Alabama-Georgia water war ordeal. Farmers have noted unusual weather patterns and late frosts affecting their crops. Rising temperatures have exacerbated urban heat islands in cities like Atlanta. In short: Georgia isn’t immune to climate change, and the Latino community is right to prioritize climate and the environment.
Moreover, the case for caring about climate change can even be looked at solely from an economic perspective; the category “improving wages and creating jobs,” ranked second of 19 categories at 35 percent when those surveyed were asked to rank their top three most important issues.
This month, electric car manufacturer Rivian announced a deal with the state to build an electric vehicle factory. QCells announced early this year that it plans to double its solar cell production in Georgia creating 2500 new jobs across new facilities in Cartersville and in Dalton, where more than half the population is Hispanic. With investments in clean energy & electrification on federal and state levels, job training and jobs will be created in these sectors, aligning both with respondents’ priorities of climate and improving wages/creating jobs.
What’s the takeaway from all this? If there is one, perhaps it is that regardless of party lines the Latino community cares about climate and the environment at a time when climate initiatives are receiving funding like never before seen. It would be a missed opportunity if we don’t ensure the community feels valued and stays in the loop with all that’s happening in Georgia.
