PUBLIC COOL ON WARMING….Via Andrew Revkin, the latest Pew poll on priorities contains grim news for those of us who think we’re rapidly destroying out planet: the public couldn’t care less. Global warming, once again, ranks as the lowest priority from a list of 20, and the more general category of “protecting the environment” fell 15 percentage points from last year.
And as if that’s not bad enough, Revkin also points to a new Rasmussen poll, which finds that 44% of U.S. voters don’t believe humans are the cause of global warming, compared to only 41% who do. That’s even worse than last year’s results.
It’s not surprising that public concern with the economy has risen recently, but over the past two years, as scientists and politicians have both been running around with their hair on fire, the public at large has become less concerned with global warming. Two years ago 38% thought it was an important domestic priority; today only 30% think so.
More later on the implications. But we really have some PR work to do here. Whatever it is we’re doing now, it isn’t working.
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