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TechnoratiGlobal Poll Finds 73% Want Higher Priority for Climate Change
Britons among the most enthusiastic about action to stop global warming, while Americans among least willing to put environment first, according to global public opinion poll
Unfortunately for Barack Obama though, who has put energy reform at the top of his White House to-do list, Americans are not necessarily among them.
![[Residents walk down a road that leads to the county's power plant in Zhangjiakou, north-east China's Hebei province. (Photograph: STR/AFP)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/globalpoll_climatechange.jpg "globalpoll_climatechange.jpg")
Only 44% of Americans thought climate change should be a major preoccupation for the Obama administration, the survey co-ordinated by the University of Maryland's Programme on International Policy Attitudes said. The only other two countries unwilling to see their governments make climate change a top focus were Iraq and the Palestinian territories. In 15 other countries though there was strong support for governments to do more to deal with climate change.
Britons were among the most enthusiastic supporters for greater government intervention, with 77% urging officials to do more. Germans, however, think their government has already done enough. Some 83% think their government has already adopted climate change action as a top priority; 27% would like the government to turn its attention elsewhere.
"The public is pulling for more — a lot more, no, but a bit more, yes. There is definitely political capital there to move the ball forward and that is pretty much universal," said Steven Kull, the director of the survey which drew on data gathered by academic and marketing polling organisations in the respective countries. Overall about 73% of those polled believe governments should make climate change a top priority.
The poll, which sampled the opinions of 18,578 people in 19 countries, found broad popular support for making climate change a top priority extended even to those countries whose governments have yet to commit to global action. In China there was overwhelming support — 94% — for the government to keep climate change on the front burner. And in India, which is also rapidly emerging as one of the world's leading producers of global warming pollution, 59% of the public wanted their government to make climate change a top priority.
That defies the hard line taken by the country's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, earlier this month against putting any cap on its greenhouse gas emissions.
Around the globe, the public was unconvinced their governments were assigning high enough priority to climate change. The disconnect suggests that there is greater public support for action on public change than elected officials realise, Kull said. "There is a tendency among policy makers to underestimate people's readiness for action."
Only four countries — Germany, Britain, China, and Indonesia — considered that their governments were focused on climate change. But, that did not necessarily satisfy the demand for even greater action.
Although the majority of Britons, 58%, credit the government with making climate change a major priority, even greater numbers, 89%, believe there is room for the government to do even more.
29 Comments so far
Show AllComing back late to this to check on figures, it disturbed me all over again to see this:
"Only 44% of Americans thought climate change should be a major preoccupation for the Obama administration, the survey co-ordinated by the University of Maryland's Programme on International Policy Attitudes said."
I don't understand how you can us the word "only" when nearly half the people in the country think climate change should not only be more important, but a "major preoccupation" for the administration (and I assume the rest of the government). Granted, I think it should 99.999%, but considering the overwhelming amounts of money oil companies and reactionaries have been spending to obscure the truth, it's encouraging, not to mention remarkable, that we are so close to a majority thinking such a dramatic change is needed. To say "only" minimizes this near majority and makes them seem like a fringe group, even thought it's nearly half---a very large number of people. Is there any other issue that that many people think should be a major preoccupation?
Britons don't watch as much teevee.
How long does CO2 molecules remain in the atmosphere?
200 to 300 years for most and some as long a 500 years.
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00296.htm
Sioux Rose
George Lakoff educated many of us on the use of "frames" to set up reactions and so-called opinions.
Do you suppose if the poll question was worded, "Would you like to live more than twenty years?" or "Are you interested in sustaining a stable climate for your children and grandchildren?" Numbers might be higher.
What's always remarkable about any U.S. poll is that it exists as a self-fulfilling Orwellian device there to largely measure how well the populace, the majority of which have their views shaped from peer groups (who are in turn programmed by the same ubiquitous mainstream media and its dominant talking heads) is "successfully" regurgitating what they've been fed in a 24/7 virtual loop/stream of mostly false data. Amazing then, with the most expensive dis-information campaign in history, that so many STILL see through the din and get it right! One can only imagine what the numbers (polls) would be if citizens were given a shot at the truth!
You know the bumper sticker, "How's my driving?" Well the equivalent, relative to these polls, should read, "How's my brain-washing? Your score here __________."
peacekeepertwo, I often wonder if the people who conduct these survey's, have list of Rightwing Republicans they use to Conduct these Surveys. They never ask me because I'm not on their list.
I don't know, S.R., if it's media brainwashing or something else that makes Americans doubtful and uninterested in global climate change. Americans are suspicious of efforts to portray reality in ways that will cost them money or require sacrifice. I think it has to do with demographics.
Who is putting out the idea that global climate change is a threat to our nation? Scientists and intellectuals as well as some poets and artsy types. How much sway has this demographic had over the American psyche over the past two hundred years? Little to none. This country sees its past in terms of Carnegie, Ford, Edison, Bell and all the others that industrialized the world and made us rich. We respect military heros, religionists, industrialists, entertainers, and sports stars, but we do not respect idea guys.
People of other countries listen to those who devote their lives to study--here the study of climate change. To them, a professor's thoughts are worth more than the opinions of an evangelist, a politician, or a housewife who can field dress a moose. A core American value is anti-intellectualism.
I can remember is far back as Adlai Stevenson. He was an "egghead", a term was used freely during that period, and it pointed pejoratively to someone who was grounded in books and study. Now I don't know if Adlai would have been a very good president. Maybe not. But the fact that his scholarship was seen as a detriment says a lot about our values.
oops. Edison...Bell... ?
Scientists.
Apparently we do respect idea guys.
I agree with that totally. So it seems that the only scientists that get heard are the one with the political connections. Which explains why currently the prevailing "fact" is that global warming will cause severe damage to the earth. No one likes listening to anyone who dissents. I know it's tough when not just one single idealogy can prevail.
Another point- when we get our scientific info from the media and governments, facts tend to get lost in translation. They give us vague points instead of detailed inormation. (this applies to any government policy.) Maybe it's because facts are boring. It's sad how that works.
Climate Change....
Now that's change you can REALLY believe in.
The audacity of anality in authority.
I'm in rare form, today.
It's no wonder Americans don't want "global warming" to be a top priority. Now we actually have real problems to deal with- bad economy, unemployment, poverty, health care, iran, north korea, packistan, drug wars in mexico.
Even before the recession, the world had more urgent problems- we just ignored them: hunger, povery, genocide, AIDS, pirates, lack of clean water, civil wars, terrorism, and bad education to name a few.
It's sad that it took an economic meltdown for us to realize that our biggest problem isn't a theory supported on shaky science.
Global warming is a fact,not a theory. You don't even need elaborate instruments or complex computer models to measure it -- you just need to see the natural world around you: it's cooler in summer (for the time being) in North America because the poles are melting, sending more than the normal amounts of frigid water into the North Atlantic, cooling both oceanic and continental atmospheres. But it is also warmer in winter throughout North America, causing all wild plant and animal species to shift northward.
Green jobs are more labor intensive that dead-end jobs, and will provide a solution to what we Republicans call Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!
It is only the vested interests of the oil, steel, coal, and nuclear industries that cry there is no global warming. But follow their money trail and you'll see why they subsidize your pseudo-science, wyzeguy.
They would be advised to gracefully shift their investments from their moribund industries into solar thermal, a la www.ausra.com and electric vehicles a la www.betterplace.com
Global warming is a fact,not a theory. You don't even need elaborate instruments or complex computer models to measure it -- you just need to see the natural world around you: it's cooler in summer (for the time being) in North America because the poles are melting, sending more than the normal amounts of frigid water into the North Atlantic, cooling both oceanic and continental atmospheres. But it is also warmer in winter throughout North America, causing all wild plant and animal species to shift northward.
Green jobs are more labor intensive that dead-end jobs, and will provide a solution to what we Republicans call Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!
It is only the vested interests of the oil, steel, coal, and nuclear industries that cry there is no global warming. But follow their money trail and you'll see why they subsidize your pseudo-science, wyzeguy.
They would be advised to gracefully shift their investments from their moribund industries into solar thermal, a la www.ausra.com and electric vehicles a la www.betterplace.com
And which theory is supported on shaky science....?
The keynesian and Straussian economic theories...?
ya bad wording.
those economic theories too.
I meant global warming though.
Since when did the powers-to-be care what the people want? I think that the financial crisis was created (or allowed to happen) inorder to assure a low priority for everything but the economy (or the wealthy making money). Cynical? Maybe.
"Americans, among least willing to put environment first"
As Dick Cheney said, "the American way of life is not negotiable."
Just give me my Cheez Doodles, my beer and my porn movies, and fuck off!
Just give me my Cheez Doodles, my beer and my porn movies, and fuck off!
Sounds like a plan Obimbo can and will approve of.
Climate Change is at the bottom of every poll I've seen as to America. The economy is first and fools in the Congress that want to put anything in front of that weill get hammered.
The poll of folks in China and India, disconnected completely from the political reality in their countries simply tell you why nothing is going to be done.
Do the people here really think a majority of the people in the world give a tinkers damn about Carbon emissions? Especially if its going to cost them?
I kinda have to agree with Henry here.
I'm not climate scientist or anything but all this protecting of the environment cost money. Everyone is for it, except when they find out that it's actually gonna cost them. That's when the back pedalling begins.
It would seem that the millions of dollars spent by the coal/oil/nuke/war industries is having the desired effect in sowing doubt about the realities of AGW. Vancouver papers are calling global warming a "new orthodoxy amongst the enviros" and talking up Cap and Trade as a ponzi scheme or a tax. The models are faulty. All the scientists are lying and falsifying data for money. The sun is fluctuating wildly. It's El Nino. It's a way to grab more control. It's an excuse to jack prices. The world is actually cooling. Extinctions are normal. Warming will make life better! Relax. Put your head down on the block and close your eyes...
These lobbyists should be photographed and made to sign their statements. They must be held to account or fear that they will be held to account.
Sioux Rose
MAPLE: I noticed this, too. A lot of people on the left are by nature (with good reason!) suspicious of authority or authority figures. And climate science, like most forms of science, is inexact. Still, the preponderance of evidence is such that anyone who gave a damn about human beings would realize too many ecosystems are crashing down or being crashed and burned far too rapidly; and there have been documentaries done that demonstrate what happens to any ecosystem when a single member is compromised. The natural world, which is the one we rely upon through so many forms of "natural capitalism" is a gigantic interwoven web of ecosystems that weaken when some of their "members" are taken down.
It's a shame that good minds on the left, given to stalking conspiracy theories, have inadvertently bought into the doubt-campaigns produced by the oil, coal, and nuclear industries, the way well-suited clients pay bold attorneys to use any device possible to create some semblance (and it might not qualify as reasonable to most) of doubt. It's a damned shame since what's at stake IS everything! By twisting their own lust for the profit motive, they convince otherwise solid thinkers that the cap & trade (new fiscal frontier) is at the bottom of the whole climate change call to action. Talk about effective use of smoke and mirrors to deflect what's ACTUALLY going on and at stake!
Hey, you 73% - you're free to adopt catastrophic climate mutation as a top priority any time you wish and adjust accordingly - you don't have to wait for Big Brother to force you to do the right thing.
Not just personally, but one has to figure a vast majority of that 73% work for corps more interested in the bottom line than the planet Earth, yes? So what's stopping you from doing the right thing right now?
Grow up, world - governments are corporate owned+operated. Either we do it ourselves, or we kick back and watch it play out. Hey - some of us will survive, so there's that...
Who cares what the rest of the world thinks? They're all a bunch of foreigners.
. . . Americans among least willing to put environment first, according to global public opinion poll
This comes as a complete shock to me. I must go and lie down.
So?
Not sure if I believe the poll about Americans.
Then again the increasing popularity of Limbaugh worshipping wingnuts defending a corporations right to earn profits at any cost gained a lot of steam throughout the Cheney years. When a government does everything in secret, shit happens.
Suppressing the science, censoring scientists, giving energy companies the right to edit and revise years of scientific research, and appointing former CEO's and lobbyists to head up the EPA did wonders for corporations and their destruction of the planet. The increase in the number of climate change deniers is another corporate success story during the Cheney years.
Try changing their narrow, brainwashed, sorry assed, minds now. It's nearly impossible.
freepressmyass,
You have laudable goals in seeking a free press, and you are correct to feel angry and violated by all of this.
Some of what really does go for truth and a free press can still be seen in places that most seldom look, like "World's Largest Science Group 'Startled' By Outpouring of Scientists Rejecting Man-Made Climate Fears!", see:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/190251-World-s-Largest-Science-Group-Startled-By-Outpouring-of-Scien...
Although I strongly agree about protecting the Earth's balance, you've been caught up in some of the eddies of propaganda, where what Limbaugh says ( sometimes ) is actually true -- to make it appear to be false -- in order to extract significant future profits through carbon taxes on everyone.
The more you castigate others for being so challenged, "Try changing their narrow, brainwashed, sorry assed, minds now. It's nearly impossible," the more you actually support exactly what you really do want changed.
It is ALL about the corporations -- Yes.
Do they care about Earth and people, like you and I do -- No.
They cleverly and indirectly lie about lying, to make people upset and reactive, and so much easier to rally emotional angst, chide, and control.
A "climate change denier" approach to reason is tantamount to associating real practicing and skeptical scientists -- with Holocaust deniers -- an obvious ad hominem logic error attack when the facts are clearly quite hard to deal with.
If you are actually a true patriot and freedom loving person, your excoriations would be better directed at those stiffing your freedoms and setting up massive ripping off of you and our future generations.
It is simple but not easy -- choose more wisely, and be compassionate while angry.
When this government can polute it's own land while not being held to the same standards as private industry is a pretty good sign no one is going to hear any thing forthcoming from this country.
When I worked for the Army Corps of Engineers, our construction projects were held to much higher requirements than private industry.
Private industry doesn't have to meet anythng like NEPA requirements.
And our state regualtor (PaDEP) was far tougher on us than private companies. Where I live, steel mill slag is a ubiquitous material. The slag dumps are mined and private entities and local governments, use it in parking lots, spread it on snow-covered roads, and anywhere else stone or gravel is called for. But when the Corps even encountered slag on a site, the state made us treat it a as toxic industrial waste. At a dam construction project, they even made us treat runoff from ordinary crushed linstone piles as industrial effluent (as opposed to being ordinary stormwater subject to just sediment control measures).
Why is PaDEP so tough with federal agencies but treats big corporations with kid gloves? Draw your own conculusions.