Poll: Global warming caused some to vote no on Proposition 1

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