Saturday, October 24, 2009

Public Cools on Warming. Is Obama to Blame?   [Edward John Craig]

In case you missed it: My friend and fellow City Journal alum James Taranto had an interesting observation on the partisan breakdown of the Pew poll Greg posted here.

Global Warmism Is No Longer Cool

Although President Obama is an avowed global warmist, his presidency does not seem to be rallying Americans to the cause. A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that far fewer Americans accept global-warmist doctrines than did a year and a half ago. In April 2008, 71% of those polled said there is "solid evidence the earth is warming," and 47% said the believed-in warming was "because of human activity." This month, those numbers are down to 57% and 36%, respectively.

Half of those polled said they supported Obama's "cap and trade" scheme to suppress energy use by burdening it with new taxes. But the more you know about the plan, the less you favor it: Only 36% of those who said they had heard "a lot" about cap-and-trade were in favor; 64% opposed it, vs. 39% of the total population.

What accounts for the shift in opinion? One possibility is that Obama's declining popularity has worn off on warmism. Belief in global warming because of human activity declined nine percentage points among Republicans and eight among Democrats, but a whopping 20 points among independents, the group most apt to change its mind about the president. Another possibility is that in a recession, people have real problems to worry about and thus are less likely to be concerned about hypothetical fears.

Whatever the reasons, though, this poll ought to be a warning to senators who have repeatedly threatened to take up cap-and-trade one of these days.

10/24 05:30 PMShare