Latino voters are concerned about the environment

 The majority of Latino voters in the western United States are concerned about climate change, access to public lands and other environment-related topics, according to the 12th annual Conservation in the West Poll.

Colorado College’s State of the Rockies Project released the results of the poll last week and a press conference webinar on Tuesday focused on how Latino voters perceive a variety of topics related to the environment. As part of the poll, researchers conducted 3,440 interviews between Jan. 5 and Jan. 23 both by phone and using the internet. The people interviewed live in eight western states and 434 of the participants were New Mexicans.

The poll showed overwhelming support for measures to protect the environment and increase access to public lands across racial groups. It also found an increasingly “dim view” of nature’s future when looking back over the 12 years of polling data.

Last year, 36 percent of respondents said they were hopeful about the future of nature. This year, that number reduced to 28 percent. Some of the areas that voters said they were concerned about include inadequate water supplies, poorly planned growth and development, water contamination, loss of family agriculture, habitat loss, loss of natural areas, climate change, air pollution and the impacts of oil and natural gas extraction.

According to the poll results, 76 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of independent voters and 96 percent of Democrats said candidates’ positions on conservation issues will […]

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