California’s Asian Americans—An Untapped Environmental Powerhouse?

LOS ANGELES & OAKLAND, Calif. (May 7, 2009) – The vast majority of Asian Americans identify themselves as environmentalists and identify global warming as a top environmental concern, in a groundbreaking poll of California’s Asian American voters released today.

“The results of this poll should be a wake-up call for California’s elected officials and for advocates for the environment and Asian communities,” said James Lau, Executive Director of the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (CLCV Ed Fund), which commissioned the poll. “These communities represent the fastest-growing ethnic group in California; they also represent an untapped source of power and influence for those who want to reverse global warming and protect our state’s natural resources.”

“Asian American voters in California are willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk when it comes to taking political action to protect the environment,” said Ben Tulchin, a researcher with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. “Most Asian voters express a willingness to vote for a ballot measure or a candidate that protects our air, land, and water and is committed to tackling global warming.”

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research conducted the statewide survey on behalf of the CLCV Ed Fund— a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of the environment for all Californians. This groundbreaking research was designed to delve deeply into Asian American voter opinions on the environment, with interviews conducted in four different languages (English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese), and data collected from a diverse array of ethnic populations among Asian voters.

“It is imperative that policy makers—at all levels of government—review this groundbreaking research in order to formulate new and relevant environmental policies,” stated Assemblymember Mike Eng. “I look forward to working with the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund to translate this research into action.”

“The Asian community knows the realities of environmental change – from rapid industrialization in places like China and Korea, to air pollution in our neighborhoods in Richmond and Los Angeles,” said Roger Kim, executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. “Our members are fighting air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from oil refineries, promoting greener and healthier development of our communities, and voting. They are proof that the Asian community is a powerful voice, when organized.”

Highlights of the research include the following:

    * Four out of five Asian American voters consider themselves environmentalists. In the Chinese community, those numbers are particularly high, with 96% calling themselves environmentalists. This is in contrast to the 52% Californians overall who identify themselves as environmentalists.

    * Protecting California’s air, land, and water is an important value for Asian American voters; this held true across different nationalities and ethnicities within the Asian American community. Three in four Asian Americans are extremely or very concerned about environmental issues, with even higher interest among Chinese (82%) and Korean (78%) voters.

    * Asian Americans believe strongly that government should take an active role in protecting our air, land, and water, and these voters support environmental regulations and laws to protect natural resources.

    * Top environmental issues among Asian American voters are global warming, having enough water to meet future needs, and dependence on foreign oil.

    * An overwhelming majority of Asian American voters feel that environmental regulations provide an important benefit to society (71%), with only 12% saying they do more harm than good.

    * Asian voters split their trust between the federal government (22%), state government (19%) and local government (28%), with only 4% saying they trust business to carry out environmental regulations, in terms of ensuring environmental laws are followed.

Asian Americans make up 12.5 percent of California’s population and are the fastest growing major racial or ethnic group. Little has been known about Asian American environmental attitudes and concerns, resulting in the exclusion of Asian Americans’ needs in policy decisions.

The CLCV Ed Fund commissioned the first-ever Asian American opinion poll about environmental values to: 1) help policymakers develop policies that addresses the needs of Asian Americans; 2) help environmental and Asian American organizations better serve the needs of Asian Americans; and 3) increase Asian American participation in efforts to protect our air, land, and water. To ensure cultural and linguistic sensitivities, the CLCV Ed Fund received assistance from an advisory group, which includes the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

CLCV Ed Fund conducts opinion polling and research to produce data to strengthen and sharpen the advocacy and outreach efforts of the environmental community. The data enables organizations to develop audience-specific messages, provide targeted services and strengthen mobilization efforts. CLCV Ed Fund research findings are also disseminated to policymakers, corporate leaders, and philanthropic leaders for use in creating programs and policies that address environmental concerns.