Nearly three-quarters of Colorado voters, including 52% of Republicans, support targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new poll shows. 

Sixty-one percent of respondents indicated that they support policymakers taking “strong action” to combat climate change, and more than seven in 10 believe that the Air Quality Control Commission should issue rules to reduce carbon emissions by 50% within 10 years and by 90% within 30 years, compared with 2005 levels.

“Coloradans’ unwavering support for strong climate action is further reason that our state must urgently pursue more ambitious policies to meet our science-based greenhouse gas reduction goals,” said Stacy Tellinghuisen, senior climate policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates. Her group, along with Conservation Colorado and Global Strategy Group – a national public affairs firm whose clients include many Democratic officeholders – commissioned a survey of 800 voters between May 7-11 and of 600 voters from Dec. 13-17.

In May, the state’s air quality panel adopted Regulation 22, which will create more robust tracking of emissions and phase out hydrofluorocarbons, which are more damaging than carbon dioxide and are found in cooling and refrigeration. The 2019 legislation that prompted the rulemaking requires strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in addition to the reporting requirement.

The margin of error for the poll was 3.5%.