76% or three out of four Americans – including two out of three conservatives – think the federal government is not doing “enough to address global warming and develop alternative energy sources in order to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” And 83% of Americans – including 77 percent of conservatives – said that “in the absence of federal leadership” today, they support the fast-growing number of pushes by “state and local officials to curb global warming and promote new energy resources.”
The nationwide survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation also found that 58 percent of Americans – including 57 percent of independents and 42 percent of conservatives – are more concerned about global warming today than they were two years ago.
Other key survey findings: 77 percent of Americans think that “developing alternative or renewable energy sources and reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil should be President Bush’s top priority for the balance of his term in office”; and 83 percent of Americans — including 72 percent of conservatives and 85 percent of independents — would like to see more attention paid to global warming during the 2006 Congressional elections and the 2008 Presidential elections.
Civil Society Institute President Pam Solo said: “This survey shows that Americans of all political stripes are dissatisfied with the lack of national leadership on climate change and energy issues. Americans want the President and Congress to take decisive leadership steps on climate change. Right now, state and local officials are filling a massive leadership vacuum in the absence of meaningful federal action. The most important step to solving climate change is clean, safe and renewable energy. The time for diagnosis is long past. We know we have to kick the oil habit.”
Opinion Research Corporation Senior Research Associate Graham Hueber said: “One of the most striking aspects of these findings is the widespread and decidedly bipartisan nature of the concerns about inaction on global warming and energy solutions. We don’t see the party-line polarization that is so evident on many other national issues. This survey will give no comfort at all to politicians who think they can drag their feet on climate change and energy solutions.”
OTHER KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
Entitled “Global Warming & Alternative Energy: A Leadership Survey,” the CSI/40mpg.org poll also found the following:
* A growing number of Americans think “it is patriotic to drive a more fuel-efficient vehicle and therefore, help reduce U.S. dependency on Middle Eastern oil.”
Today, 71 percent of Americans agree with that statement, including 66 percent of conservatives. When the same question was posed in a survey released on March 17, 2005, two-thirds of Americans agreed with the statement, including 57 percent of conservatives.
* Three out of four Americans (74 percent) — including 79 percent of conservatives — agree with the following statement: “Growing concerns about the reliability of Middle Eastern oil now make it difficult to separate our national security policy — keeping America safe — from our environmental policy — preserving the environment through conservation and the development of renewable or alternative energy resources.”
* More than four out of five Americans (83 percent) support “federal scientists and other experts” who “have been barred from speaking out on such topics as global warming — or strongly discouraged from doing so.” Most Americans — including 73 percent of conservatives and 87 percent of independents — back “whistleblowers who alert the public to potential problems that their superiors may want to keep hidden.”
* Nearly nine out of 10 Americans (87 percent) agree with the following statement: “Given that pollution from human activities already may change the climate in irreversible ways, do you agree or disagree with the following statement: U.S. leaders should take steps to reduce carbon pollution now and speed up the conversion to renewable energy and other alternatives.” Over half (55 percent) agreed strongly with the statement, with the overall level of support being 79 percent among conservatives and 89 percent among independents.
For full survey findings, http://www.40mpg.org or:
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