POLL: Latino and Black Californians hit hardest by high gas prices

A new statewide poll of Californians found a majority were suffering financial hardship due to high gas prices, with Hispanic and Black residents the most likely to say so.

The survey, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California and released on Wednesday, found that 55% of adults said that recent gas prices have caused them moderate or severe financial hardship.

When broken down by race, a whopping 74% of Latinos and 58% of African Americans reported financial hardship from recent gas prices. The poll shows that 25% and 23%, respectively, reported severe financial hardship from the price of gas.

Fifty one percent of Whites said that recent gas prices caused them financial hardship, and just 32% of Asians.

Amid record-setting fuel prices, 49% of adults surveyed said they have seriously considered purchasing an electric car, or EV. 45% had not considered it, while 6% said they already owned one.

Blacks, Asians and Latinos were more likely to have considered an EV purchase compared to whites. However, whites and Asians in the survey were twice as likely to own an EV as Blacks and Latinos.

The PPIC poll also covered a range of environmental issues related to the state. Survey respondents were most likely to name water supply and drought as the top environmental issue facing California (30%), followed by wildfires (13%) and climate change (11%).

An overwhelming 91% of Californians said the condition of oceans and beaches is important to California’s future economy and quality of life. 66% of Democrats, 50% of Republicans and 49% of independents said it is “very important.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval rating was high on environmental issues at 59%. Among racial groups, approval was higher among Latinos (67%) and Blacks (62%) than it was among Asian Americans (54%) and whites (53%).

His approval on the environment was higher than his overall approval rating, which PPIC put at 53% in a May survey. The demographic trends were similar as well, with more support from Latinos (65%), Asians (61%) and African Americans (52%) than from whites (44%).

In May, half of Californians also approved of the job President Joe Biden is doing (50%). A New York Times poll from earlier this month put Biden’s national approval rating at a record low of 33%.

But only 32% of Californians approved Congress’s job performance. PPIC noted that Congressional approval ratings failed to hit 50% across parties, regions and demographic groups.