Thursday, November 8, 2007 - Page updated at 02:43 PM
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Poll: Global warming caused some to vote no on Proposition 1
Seattle Times transportation reporter
A new exit poll indicates that global-warming concerns turned about 6 percent of the voters against Proposition 1, the regional roads and transit measure that failed Tuesday night.
If that voting bloc had supported the measure, it would be a virtual dead heat, according to the poll.
The survey was done by Washington, D.C.-based RT Strategies for the Sierra Club, which mounted a campaign against the $38 billion, 20-year plan even though it included 50 miles of new light-rail tracks.
Club backers objected to 186 miles of new road lanes; they distributed polar-bear pictures and wore polar-bear hats to advertise a link between roads and global warming.
Pollster Thomas Riehle, said the "pro-transit defectors" represent a new group that played a decisive role.
The poll of 5,000 voters found that 52 percent would choose yes if a plan offered transit only. Of that group, 29 percent voted against Proposition 1, and among those people, 39 percent cited global warming as the main problem — hence, an overall 6 percent bloc, Riehle said.
The survey was conducted Nov. 4-6, using automated phone calls in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.
Among "no" voters in general, taxes and costs played a bigger role than environmental issues, the poll found.
Sound Transit also intends to conduct post-election surveys, said Chief Executive Officer Joni Earl. The agency's governing board may discuss its next moves this afternoon, as part of its routine meeting.
— Mike Lindblom, Seattle Times transportation reporter
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

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