New poll shows overwhelming support among Republicans to hold foreign polluters accountable

Several Florida cities were ranked among the best air quality areas in the country. Image via AP.

Public Opinion Strategies released a poll last month that revealed GOP voters across the nation want to hold high-polluting nations — specifically China — accountable for its use of weak environmental laws and high pollution practices to secure a competitive advantage over American companies.

China is considered a serious threat to the economic security of the United States by a vast majority of Republicans (90%). In addition, most Republican voters (more than 82%) believe that China uses weak environmental laws and high pollution practices to gain a competitive advantage over American companies, according to the poll.

“High-polluting countries hold an unfair advantage over cleaner, Made-in-America manufacturing, and until we hold them accountable, American workers will bear the brunt of that burden,” said Rep. Toby Overdorf, a Stuart Republican.

Conservatives want to see actions from their lawmakers to address these concerns. Most Republicans (89%) want to see the federal government hold foreign countries responsible for these practices and enact policies that discourage importing foreign products made with higher levels of pollution.

Last Legislative Session, Overdorf and Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez sponsored a memorial to Congress, urging elected officials in Washington to examine pollution differentials between the United States and other countries and hold foreign polluters accountable.

“United States trade policy has not taken into account carbon emissions, and as a result, afforded foreign polluters with loose carbon standards an advantage over the United States for the past several decades,” the memorial states.

“This memorial is a clarion call for Congress to stand up to the CCP’s unjust and environmentally hazardous trade practices,” Overdorf explained.

Nine in 10 Republican voters want to level the manufacturing playing field for American companies with a tariff on high pollution imports from China and other nations.

The poll’s findings confirm what POS found in a Florida statewide poll last year: Floridians understand that weak environmental standards give foreign polluters an unfair advantage over U.S. companies. They also understand that these increases in foreign pollution exacerbate local environmental impacts.