Very helpful and encouraging, though hardly surprising, news today. Per a Vote Vets press release, a new Lake Research Group poll finds that 73% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans support the passage of clean energy and climate legislation:

A compelling new poll of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans finds that 73 percent of them support Clean Energy Climate Change legislation in Congress, 79 percent believe ending our dependence on foreign oil is important to national security, and 67 percent support the argument that such legislation will help their own economic prospects. The poll was conducted by Lake Research Group for VoteVets.org In February, and is made up of 45 percent self-identified Republicans, 25 percent Independents, and 20 percent Democrats.  The full memo detailing the results is below.  PDF's of the memo and poll can be found here....

Veterans do not believe that the answer is just more drilling.  When asked the question, "Do you favor or oppose a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill that invests in clean, renewable energy sources in America and limits carbon pollution in the atmosphere?" Seventy-three percent of veterans supported the bill, while only 22 percent opposed.

VoteVets.org also announced today that it is running new television and internet ads, nationally, and in Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and North Dakota supporting energy reform policies as a matter of security.  The ads are co-sponsored with Operation Free. The ad can be viewed at BillionDollarsADay.com

These results aren't surprising. I've written before that the military is well aware of the national security threats posed by climate change - the Navy is concerned with the effect warmer waters are already having on SONAR and the Pentagon classified climate change as a "destabilizing force" in its latest quadrennial strategic defense review. Our troops in the Middle East are in an excellent (albeit unfortunate) spot to see these effects first hand - particularly those risking their lives on supply convoys to ferry fossil fuels to the front lines.

Polling details: This poll was far from perfect, with some serious flaws in the questions, but the scientific methodology seems pretty darn sound.  The interviewers were live, the sample was a full 510 vets, there's no argument here about LV vs. RV, and phone numbers were selected randomly from a military database. That's good enough for me, although I do have serious issues regarding question order. Respondents were asked about our dependency on foreign oil before they were asked about energy legislation - the question randomization was not 100% thorough. Additionally, the script included some truthful but unprofessional statements like "As a veteran we know you take pride in your service and your patriotism." Absolutely, but not the place of a pollster seeking objective information to say. Still, bias issues aside, the polling methodology itself seems sound. Even if the poll is off, it's not off by 23 points - a clear majority of our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans support clean energy and climate legislation.