Joseph Romm posted this on his blog about how the media is treating attitudes on climate change:
A CNN headline reads, "Poll: Global warming fears cooling." A UPI headline is "Americans’ concern over warming slips." A Gallup poll headline is "In U.S., Concerns About Global Warming Stable At Lower Levels."
Would you know from these headlines that, in fact, a new Gallup poll finds Americans believe global warming is due more to human activities than natural changes by 52% to 43%, up from 50 to 46 last year?
And when asked if "most scientists believe global warming is occurring" vs. "most scientists believe global warming is NOT occurring" is 55 to 8, vs 52 to 10 just last year.
The poll also found that 51% of Americans (same as last year) worry a great deal or fair amount about the problem, although that’s true for only 31% of Republicans.
In contrast, the headline of a Stanford University poll is: The vast majority of Americans know global warming is real."
A recent World Public Opinion poll found that a 60% of Fox News viewers believe "Most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring," compared to 30% who never watch Fox.
That’s not a surprise given Fox News agenda of misinformation. In December 2009, Fox News managing editor Bill Sammon required reporters and producers that report on even the most unequivocal scientific facts about global warming to dispute those facts " IMMEDIATELY."
Even with all the misinformation, poll after poll finds that the public wants to reduce global warming pollution "even if it means an increase in the cost of energy" and 63% of Americans say "EPA needs to do more to hold polluters accountable and protect the air and water."