According to a recent poll conducted by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, there is a real sea-change happening in the U.S. public consciousness right now. Consider these key findings:
Close to two-thirds (63%) of Americans agree that our country “is in as much danger from environmental hazards such as air pollution and global warming as it is from terrorists.” The percentage of Americans who say global warming is a serious problem has risen to 83% from 70% in 2004. More than two out of three (68%) Americans agree that global warming is something people can control. And fully 81% agree with the statement, “It is my responsibility to help reduce the impacts of global warming.” – 62% of Americans agree that we need more laws to enforce energy efficiency. – 87% agree that they look for new ways to save energy. – 90% adjust the temperature in their house to save energy. – Just 27% agree that “the need to conserve energy is exaggerated.” Two of three Americans (67%) say that, if they had to, they could explain global warming or climate change “to someone I meet in passing.”
As important as this change is to our efforts, we have to remember the many sides to the phenomena of public opinion.
Public opinion is a mysterious and invisible power, to which everything must yield. There is nothing more fickle, more vague, or more powerful; yet capricious as it is, it is nevertheless much more often true, reasonable, and just, than we imagine. - Napoleon Bonaparte
Carpe Diem!
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I’m a 14 year old girl from Ny,and i for one am very concerned about global warming. I tell my friends at school about it but noone seems to care. WE ourselves can stop global warming. The only problem i think,is that just like my friends at school, alot of people don’t care. The Presidant should do something about it,he has the power.
Um, i’m not so sure if global warming is equal to the threat as terrorism,though both can occur at anytime.
I strongly suggest that everyone around the world should work together to save our earth,and most of all humanity. I’m starting to think no body cares about the earth.
Stop scaing the children.
Let us hope that Napoleon is also correct in the Australian context, where a recent international poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found strong support in Australia for action on climate change.
‘Australians are the most likely among the 13 countries asked to favor taking steps to deal with the problem of global warming. Nine in ten Australians (92%) agree that climate change requires action, including 69 percent who support immediate steps “even if this involves significant costs.” Another 23 percent say the effects of climate change will be gradual and that it can be dealt with “by taking steps that are low in cost.” Australians also believe overwhelmingly (95%) that global warming could threaten Australia’s vital interests in the next decade. This includes more than two-thirds (69%) who say it constitutes a “critical threat.” Unsurprisingly, given what they believe to be the seriousness of the issue, Australians almost unanimously (99%) say that improving the global environment should be an important foreign policy goal, including 88 percent who consider it “very important.”‘
http://www.ccfr.org
I’m a 16 year old boy from Houston TX and I think that there are a couple things we need to look at about global warming before we get all in a flutter about it, because it is being hyped and its advocates are using scare tactics
Climate change has been so politicized it is sickening. If it wasn’t being dogmatically hyped I might give it a little more credence. Frankly, the threat is exaggerated, all these people want is money and power, I don’t think the majority of them really care about the earth and they certainly don’t really seem to care as much about human life. We also need to look at this problem in terms of net benefits. A lot of the money that could be spent on efforts to stop global warming and lost by adherence to the Kyoto protocol could be much better spent helping developing countries stop disease etc. Also, China and India are the biggest polluters, even if the U.S. adhered to Kyoto we would only decrease global warming by half a degree Celsius.
Also, how do we know what good climate is? The answer is we don’t, at least not definitively. There is evidence that nature makes most of the greenhouse gases and that the cause of climate change could be solar. Hasty measures will probably do more harm than climate change could. We should calmly think through this instead of doing something quickly that we might regret later (sorta like the DDT ban, the result was the deaths of millions of people in Africa, as well as billions of dollars of crops destroyed)
Thanks for your thoughtful comments Nathan. I think you are right that it is important to respond intelligently to the problem of climate change. It is important to consider who it is who is saying what on this issue. Before Hollywood-types and U.S. politicians became the face of the global warming debate, the face of the debate was scientists. What leading climate scientists have said consistently for two decades is that putting more greenhouse gases (both natural and human-induced) into the atmosphere is destabilizing the climate in ways that we don’t even fully understand as well as in ways that we do understand and can predict (like warming and higher intensity of storms). Most recently these same scientists that initially gave more conservative predictions of climate change have come out with intensive reports explaining the severity of the consequences and the steps needed to mitigate the most devastating effects. Partially as opportunists, partially in reaction to these reports, and partially because they have truly become enlightened and given a voice, many leaders are now laying out their plans for what we should do about it. In my opinion, it is important that whatever steps we take meet these criteria:
A) Be taken to a level that will give us a chance at avoiding the most devastating consequences of climate change
B) Include funds and programs for a just transition for workers and citizens who would be affected by economic shifts
C) Provide loans and incentives to bring China and India along with transitioning their economies to low-carbon solutions without hurting their ability to increase their standards of living
Reducing greenhouse gas pollution starts by becoming more efficient and getting rid of waste, which helps everyone in the long term.
What would your plan be?