Americans Cooling To Global Warming Myth
Lawrence Solomon
May 15, 2008
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2008/05/15/solomon.aspx
All three U.S. presidential hopefuls have made global warming a
high-profile issue in their campaigns. In this they are out of step with
the broad electorate, which ranks global warming well down the scale of
im****tant issues. The public's increasing skepticism is particularly
surprising given the overwhelming air time that the press has given to
the notion that global warming spells doom.
According to a new Pew Poll released last week, for the U.S. population
as a whole, only 47% believe that the earth is warming due to man made
causes. Democrats are likeliest to believe this (58%) and Republicans
least likely (27%) with Independents split right down the middle (50%).
Although most Democrats believe man is the culprit, they don't take the
crime too seriously. When asked to prioritize global warming among the
many concerns that face Americans -- everything from terrorism to crime
to government ethics -- global warming comes in 15th out of 21.
Independents take a dimmer view, ranking global warming the 18th most
im****tant issue, and Republicans rank it last, as the 21st most
im****tant.
Overall, according to a poll released in January, only 35% of Americans
said global warming should be a top priority for the president and
Congress this year, down from 38% a year earlier.
The Pew Poll analyzed public attitudes to global warming among different
demographic groups. The less urban, the less the finger is pointed at
man: 53% of urbanites vs 46% of suburbanites vs 37% of rural residents.
Likewise, the less young, the less that mankind is blamed: Only 37% of
those 65% and over blame man, compared to 54% of those in their teens or
20s. Apart from this under-30 group, in fact, no age group has a
majority that blames man.
--
Warmest Regards
Bonzo
: "They don't tell you, that, in their computer models, it's assumed
that CO2 drives global warming. In other words, you assume the result
and say the computer model proves we were right. It's garbage in,
garbage out. If you don't program the computers to cause temperatures to
rise with CO2, then you have nothing." Dr. Don J. Easterbrook, Professor
Emeritus Geology, Western Wa****ngton University
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