A national survey, conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and released on October 31, has found that climate change is now the #1 environmental concern in the United States.
According to a recent MIT survey, Americans
now rank climate change as the country's most pressing environmental problem--a
dramatic shift from three years ago, when they ranked climate change sixth out
of 10 environmental concerns.
Almost three-quarters of the respondents felt the government should do more
to deal with global warming, and individuals were willing to spend their own
money to help.
"While terrorism and the war in Iraq are the main issues of national concern,
there's been a remarkable increase in the American public's recognition of
global warming and their willingness to do something about it," said Stephen
Ansolabehere, MIT's Elting R. Morison Professor of Political Science.
There has been a remarkable increase in the priority of importance given to climate change among environmental issues since this particular survey was first conducted in 2003. There has also been a marked shift in peoples willingness to pay more for cleaner energy.
The other big change is a substantial increase in people's willingness to
spend their own money to do something about it. In 2003, people were willing to
pay on average $14 more per month on their electricity bill to "solve" global
warming. In 2006 they agreed to pay $21 more per month--a 50 percent increase in
their willingness to pay.
The survey found that understanding of climate change science and the technologies that can contribute to a solution have not changed, but people are much more aware of the importance of addressing climate change.
In general, the respondents' understanding of climate change and possible
mitigation technologies showed little change between 2003 and 2006. In terms of
their technology preferences, in 2006 most still recommended using more wind and
solar energy and increasing efficiency, but more were willing to consider CCS
[carbon capture and sequestration] and nuclear energy as possible approaches.
"It's not that people have learned something fundamental about the science,
but they've come to understand that this problem is real," said Ansolabehere.
"It takes a prolonged discussion of a complex topic like this really to move
public concern, and what's happened over the past three years has got to
continue."
What do the results of this survey imply for U.S. politics? President Bush has shown no inclination to address climate change in a serious manner and this survey indicates that he is out of step with the majority of Americans on this issue (as he is on so many issues). The survey found that a large majority of Americans, 71 %, said the government should do more to address the issue of climate change. President Bush famously rejected the Kyoto protocol because he claimed it would harm the United
States economy. Instead he proposed a voluntary domestic initiative. However even the voluntary initiative he has put forward, to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions intensity by 18% by 2012, is misleading. It is misleading because, as a Pew Center on Global Climate Change analysis shows,
...the Administration's target - an 18 percent reduction in emissions
intensity between now and 2012 - will allow actual emissions
to increase 12 percent over the same period. Emissions will continue to grow at
nearly the same rate as at present.
Emissions intensity (annual emissions of greenhouse gases divided by GDP) have been decreasing well before the Bush plan. However actual emissions of greenhouse gases have been rising and will continue to rise in a business-as-usual fashion under his plan. I doubt this sort of misleading policy is what the survey respondents had in mind when they said the U.S. government should do more.
The just released Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change finds that the economics argue for urgent action to solve the climate change problem, not downplaying it as the President and most of the Republican party are doing.
Democrats have a real opportunity to provide leadership on climate change if
as it appears now the United States 2006 midterm elections result in Democrats
taking the House and possibly the Senate. With control of one or both houses
Democrats will have the ability to put climate change legislation on the
congressional agenda. New legislation to address the problem may not become law
until we have a new President, but passing legislation in congress and
campaigning on the issue for the 2008 Presidential and congressional elections
will keep climate change in the public eye and be a reminder to Americans just
how important it is to solve this problem.
Crossposted at
BlueClimate