Latinos More Green Than Whites

Latinos and Asians are more concerned about environmental issues than are whites, according to a poll from The Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California. Specifically, voters are more concerned about “core environmental issues, including global warming, air pollution and contamination of soil and water.” The poll surveyed about 1,700 adults by telephone.

The Times reported that 50% of Latinos and 46% of Asians in the poll said they worry about global warming “a great deal” compared to only 27% of white voters. When it came to air pollution, two-thirds of Latino voters, 51% of Asian and only 31% of white voters said this concerned them. The contamination of soil/water by toxic waste concerned 85% of Latinos, 79% of Asians and 71% of whites.

Now is this really surprising, if you think about it? Latinos and Asians have a much more recent legacy of immigration and higher levels of poverty (among some Asian sub-groups) than whites. This probably means they have closer and more powerful experiences with living in places that are affected by these issues than their white counterparts.

What do you think about these differences?