… can be found here (hat tip to pollster.com).
Here’s the important result:
American voters tend to see Global Warming as a serious problem but are divided as to whether it’s caused by human activities or long-term planetary trends.
This is important because:
As with most issues, the understanding of why something is happening has a huge impact on perceptions about the issue. Among those who believe human activity is the primary cause of Global Warming, 71% consider it a Very Important issue. Among those who believe long-term planetary trends are causing the warming, just 17% rate the issue Very Important.
The scientific community is quite united on the fact that humans are contributing to climate change. So why does this public misunderstanding exist? Because the public has been subjected to a concerted and ongoing disinformation campaign over the past twenty years. And it’s still going on. Sen. James Inhofe’s recent hearings were a great example of the tactics used to discredit both science and the media that honestly reports it.
I’ve referred to this as the the uncertainty agenda. Sophisticated advocates know that by sowing uncertainty, they can essentially draw the debate into gridlock — in which case the status quo of inaction wins.
This holiday season, go out there and strike a blow against Inhofe-ism: talk to a friend, neighbor, co-worker, etc. about the reality and dangers of climate change.
