Controlling What You Can is our new series dedicated to asking YOU what matters most on the major policy topics that face the nation. This post is a recap of a poll we put out on 3/21/2025. If you want to join the conversation, keep an eye on your inbox and check us out on X – we ask a new question every week. Want to join the conversation? Sign up here and follow us on X.
We asked you all two big questions about the environment. The first was a general overview question of “how satisfied are you the government’s actions on the environment?”
You were staunchly of the opinion that our environmental stewardship needs improvement (by the way, if you want to add your thoughts to this slider, or leave a comment on the page, you can do so here).
After that, we dug into more detail – we asked you “which environment/climate policies are most impactful? Which matter most to you?”
The vast majority of Forwardists are at least somewhat dissatisfied with how the US is doing on environmental issues, and a significant plurality are very dissatisfied. In short, we’re not being good stewards for future generations.
There was a broad agreement in the comments you all submitted that the government can and must do a better job—that we have a moral imperative to safeguard the environment to ensure that younger generations will still have a world like the one we grew up in.
Two primary threads emerged in the comments and poll:
- Focusing on renewable energy and clean water dominated the polling, with clean water taking the edge between the two
- Nearly 48% of you believe that focusing on clean water should be a top priority, and nearly 40% believe the focus should be on renewable energy.
- In the comments, many of you expressed frustration at the political forces that have led us away from directly tackling these two issues, highlighting the need for a Party and candidates that are trying to solve these problems for Americans rather than listening only to their donors.
- You called for real change — for visionary action
- Nearly all of you want the US to be leaders globally in the clean energy revolution.
- You expressed desire for transformative policies over incremental change and called for leadership that inspires global cooperation towards a solution.