On climate and the environment, America isn’t a “center right” nation
by David Atkins
Once again, we learn that a majority of Americans do care about climate and the environment:
Global warming and clean energy should be priorities for Congress and the president, a majority of Americans said in a recent survey.
In the survey, released Tuesday by Yale and George Mason universities, 70% of American adults say global warming should be a priority for the nation’s leaders, while 87% say leaders should make it a priority to develop sources of clean energy. Those support levels have dropped by 7% and 5% respectively since fall.
Six in 10 Americans want the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions regardless of other countries’ emissions efforts, according to the survey. Only 6% say the U.S. should not reduce its greenhouse emissions.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the electorate is informed enough to know what the major climate and environmental issues of the day are:
The study also shows only half of Americans have heard of the Keystone XL pipeline. Among those who have heard of the pipeline, 63% support the project. The study also shows 58% of Americans support expanded drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast.
Still, the key legislative pieces of climate reduction are popular:
A majority of Americans supports policies like taxing carbon, giving tax rebates to people who purchase energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels, and funding renewable-energy research, the survey shows.
The big question, as with the gun control debate, is whether the broad majority who support progressive policies will actually care as badly about their beliefs as the strident conservatives do. That disconnect between popular opinion and minority conservative activism is part of what leads legislators to believe that their constituents are more conservative than they really are.
.