Three years ago, 77% of Americans believed the world was getting warmer. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center indicates that percentage has dropped to 54%. What happened?
I suspect the decline, if accurate, is due to elected officials and special interests (like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) who sow seeds of doubt despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. These mercenary interests are more interested in preserving the status quo than they are in the long-term global consequences of failing to act now.
Pew’s results also indicated that between 2006 and its latest poll, the percentage of Americans who believe that humans are causing global warming has declined from 47% to 36%. Education. Education. Education.
If we demand that our policymakers make the future well-being of our planet an immediate priority, they will be much more likely to stop acting for special interests and start acting for the benefit of all of us. It is up to us as individuals to insist that we leave the earth in a condition that will enable future generations to move forward, not decline.
Truth in reporting: according to an AP article on Yahoo Finance, a Stanford University pollster thinks Pew’s results are ‘implausible’. Jon Krosnick’s findings indicate that ~80% of Americans believe our planet is heating up and that belief has been constant since 1997.
11.2.09
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