The Sierra Club is showcasing the results of a poll that if found elsewhere, it would likely call “industry propaganda.” The poll found that by a wide margin, the main environmental-related concern of minorities is rising gas and energy costs. Concern about carbon pollution came seventh on the list.
Bizarrely, the Sierra Club interpreted these poll results to mean: “Communities of color overwhelmingly support climate action.” But any logical person would take just the opposite interpretation from the poll, concluding that minority communities do not want “climate action” if it means higher gas and energy prices.
Of course, few outside of the green community would be surprised by these results. Census data indicates that minorities tend to be poorer, on average, than the general population, meaning that they are much more susceptible to rising energy prices than wealthier Americans (like those who traditionally support green activism). With average residential electricity prices recently hitting an all-time high, such concerns are timelier than ever.
The environmentalist movement’s relationship with minorities has been somewhat strained of late following a recent report by Dr. Dorceta E. Taylor from the University of Michigan, which found that minorities are vastly underrepresented in personnel and virtually non-existent in leadership positions at green organizations. It’s unclear how blatantly misinterpreting priorities of minorities in order to further their political agenda will impact this relationship.