Electric Co-op Today

A new Gallup poll finds an all-time high number of Americans say the seriousness of climate change is exaggerated. The 41 percent who believe that represents the largest number since Gallup began polling on this question in 1997.

The survey shows that while Republicans are increasingly likely to think climate change is exaggerated—two-thirds said yes—the number of independents who believe that is also on the rise. Among independents, 44 percent agreed, up sharply from 33 percent a year earlier. Twenty-two percent of Democrats feel there is exaggeration, a 4 percent increase.

The poll, released March 11, also shows a majority of Americans—60 percent—don’t think climate change will pose a serious threat to them or their way of life. At the same time, 60 percent also say they personally worry about climate change either a great deal or a fair amount.

Kirk Johnson, NRECA vice president of energy and environmental policy, called the results “a big change in public opinion, and not entirely surprising given the state of the economy and the news attention to the ‘climategate’ e-mail issue.” Johnson was referring to the incident last November in which e-mails stolen from a British climate research unit were posted on the Internet. Critics have cited the e-mails in raising questions about the validity of climate change research.

“The real question,” Johnson said, “is whether this signifies a more permanent, directional change, or if it is just a blip and public attitudes return to their more historic levels.”

Gallup conducted the poll March 5-8, using telephone interviews with 1,012 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Tags: Climate Change