Posts Tagged: economic growth
Latinos see climate change as a consequence of human activity at higher percentages than other Americans
Latinos have an intense commitment to action on climate change, carbon pollution standards, development of renewable energy sources, and strong policies to clean up our waterways and air, according to a new poll conducted by Latino Decisions for the national environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice and GreenLatinos, a leading national nonprofit of Latino environmental leaders.
The Earthjustice & GreenLatinos 2015 Environmental Attitudes Survey poll shows Latinos see climate change as a consequence of human activity at higher percentages than other Americans. Almost two-thirds of Latinos, 66 percent, accept climate change as a result of human activities, as compared to 52 percent of general population, according to a 2014 survey by Yale and George Mason universities. Latinos are more moved by the science of climate change by a whopping 14 percent.
The poll found that Latinos reject the false claim that there has to be a tradeoff between protecting the environment and fostering economic growth. In the survey, six out of ten Latinos have confidence that enacting stronger environmental laws will improve economic growth and create new jobs. A substantial majority of Latinos, 59 percent, believe green energy and environmental reform is good for economic opportunity and job growth. Additionally, 72 percent of Latinos said they are somewhat tomuch more likely to support policies and candidates that seek to protect the environment. In direct correlation with these findings, Latinos also want to reward candidates and office-holders who address climate issues and reported feeling more favorably about officials who act on behalf of the environment.
The poll, conducted in June and July for Earthjustice and GreenLatinos, based in San Francisco, CA and Washington, D.C. respectively, shows that while 80 percent of Latinos say immigration reform is an important issue for the President and Congress to address, support for clean water and environmental policies enjoyed as much or more support with 90 percent of respondents in favor or strengthening the Clean Water Act. View here the full results.
Source: EarthJustice.org press release, National Poll Finds 78 Percent of Latinos Say They've Directly Experienced the Effects of Climate Change, August 18, 2015
New report: Immigrant contributions to California
The California Immigrant Policy Center released a new report detailing the contributions of immigrants to the state. The report, the latest edition of “Looking Forward: Immigrant Contributions to the Golden State,” features statewide statistics and local data from seven key regions: the Central Coast, Central Valley, the Sacramento area, Greater Los Angeles, Inland Southern California, San Diego/Border region and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Authored by researchers at the University of Southern California's Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII), the report includes updated information on demographics, labor force participation, economic contributions, entrepreneurship, and numbers of eligible voters among all immigrants. “Looking Forward” also zeroes in on undocumented immigrants' contributions to the state's GDP and the contributions of vulnerable workers with intermittent employment.
“Every one of California's immigrants helps shape our state's economic and civic vitality, but the daily threat of deportation casts a shadow over California's undocumented residents – and their loved ones and communities,” said Reshma Shamasunder, Executive Director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. “Bringing relief to all of California's undocumented residents – who contribute over $130 billion to the state's GDP – is a common-sense step the President should take today to honor these contributions and advance economic prosperity.”
Key findings from the study include:
Demographics and mixed-status families
- 10.2 million Californians are immigrants - over one quarter of our state's population.
- 26% or about 2.6 million of California's immigrants are undocumented. Almost three in four non-citizens live in households that also have citizens.
Economic contributions.
- Immigrants produce 31% of the state's Gross Domestic Product – nearly $650 billion annually.
- Undocumented immigrants alone contribute $130 Billion of the GDP – a figure greater than the entire GDP of Nevada - or AT&T's total revenues.
- Immigrants are more than one-third of the state's labor force and are more likely to be entrepreneurial and create their own jobs.
- Undocumented immigrants represent almost 1 in 10 of the state's workers, making up 38% of the agriculture industry and 14% of the construction industry statewide.
Civic participation.
- By 2015, immigrants eligible to naturalize and the already naturalized could represent as much as 33% of California's electorate.
- The report also found that 58% of California's undocumented immigrants are uninsured.
Jared Sanchez, the report's principal author, added: “From California's densest urban centers to our most intensely agricultural regions, immigrants' economic power is pushing California's economy forward.”
The report also examines the contributions of vulnerable undocumented workers with non-continuous employment, including those who work 13 weeks a year or less and those who had been laid off. The report recommends that both legislative proposals and executive action include this population, with a total earned income of more than $800 million, noting that hundreds of millions of dollars and their multiplier effects are at stake.
The full report and insets for each region is available at http://caimmigrant.org/contributions.html
Source: California Immigrant Policy Center, New Data Underscores Immigrant Contributions to California, September 3, 2014.
Unemployment and economic growth: greatest concern to nearly four in 10 Hispanic voters
When asked about the importance of six national policy issues, U.S. Hispanics prioritize immigration, healthcare, and unemployment to equal degrees, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll. Twenty percent of Hispanics each mention one of the top three issues as mattering most to them, while 17% name economic growth, 11% name the gap between the rich and poor, and 7% name the federal budget deficit. Hispanic registered voters, however, put healthcare and all economic issues before immigration, which 12% name as their most important issue.
Among all Americans and U.S. registered voters, healthcare, economic growth, and the federal deficit roughly tie as the most important issues, while immigration ranks last among both groups of Americans.
The new USA Today/Gallup poll makes it clear that economic issues -- particularly unemployment and economic growth -- are more important to Hispanic voters nationwide than immigration.
Hispanic immigrants and first-generation Hispanic Americans are more likely to mention immigration than those whose family has been in the U.S. longer than that. Specifically, 16% of Hispanic voters who are themselves immigrants to the U.S. name immigration as a priority, similar to the 14% of those who were born here but with at least one parent born abroad. By contrast, 7% of Hispanic voters who, along with their parents, were U.S.-born do the same.
The findings are based on Gallup Daily tracking interviews with 1,753 Hispanic adults in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia conducted April 16-May 31. The sample includes 1,005 Hispanic registered voters who, on a weighted basis, represent 47% of the total sample of U.S. Hispanics.
Source: Gallup, Hispanic Voters Put Other Issues Before Immigration, www.gallup.com, June 25, 2012.
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