public opinion

At least that’s what a CNN poll says: 57% strongly or mildly still favor offshore drilling? Ouch. I bring this up to make an uncomfortable point about the level of disconnect between what we energy and enviro geeks obsess about and what jiggles the needle for mainstreamers. There’s a disturbing and tiresome tendency for all of us to...[read more]

When asked “What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?” about 49 percent of respondents answered the economy or unemployment, while only 1 percent mentioned the environment or global warming. But when asked, “What do you think will be the most serious problem facing the world in the future if nothing...[read more]

President Obama has a better chance with banking reform than he does saving the planet Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., introduced today a nearly 1,000 page climate and  energy bill which hit the Senate floor with a resounding thud. Despite a politically savvy Christmas tree of political appeals to various energy and environmental...[read more]

Guest post by DV82XL. He is a Canadian chemist and materials scientist (and regular, valued commenter on BNC). For his previous article on the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit, see here. Governments are coming to recognize nuclear power as an attractive option because of its near absence of carbon dioxide emissions and the...[read more]

The New York Times points out it’s visibility is cloaked by the faults of a few plants Here’s a startling and trenchant thought that advocates for nuclear energy need to take to heart. It appeared in the New York Times April 21st. “The nuclear industry is just so far removed from people’s lives, they don’t have much feeling for it,”...[read more]

If you had to choose between feeding either your son or your daughter, which one would you pick? Which do you give greater priority to, having gas in your car’s fuel tank or tires on your car’s wheels? Which is more important to have in your home, running water or electricity? Tough questions, right? Not only are they tough, they also...[read more]

Poll finds Americans are now less worried about a series of environmental problems than at any time over the past 20 years Fresh on the heels of a Gallup poll showing Americans’ declining concern for global warming, the 75-year-old public opinion research organization today published more findings that Americans are growing less...[read more]

At long last, here's your Friday Factoid for the week:Yale just released the latest iteration of their "Climate Change and the American Mind" tracking polls. Once again (this has been a consistent finding), the poll shows funding for more research on renewable energy is the most popular policy response to climate change across all...[read more]

Survey shows that American voters prefer a straight carbon tax over cap-and-trade as a policy option to address climate change. As the climate policy debate heats up again on the Senate floor, there has been lots of talk about whether a cap-and-trade to control greenhouse gas emissions–one similar to the House’s American Clean Energy...[read more]

We blame every home run on steroids, but no hurricanes on climate change. Time to change the message. (Images via NASA and Wikimedia Commons) The idealist in me really thought we would have gotten past this by now, but it seems that one of the biggest obstacles remaining in climate science messaging is the disconnect between weather...[read more]

Poll shows rising concern for climate change (BBC/GlobeScan) As delegates gather in Copenhagen for the UN climate summit, a new poll shows growing concern for climate change; nearly two-thirds say climate is “very serious” problem. Despite the fact that recent polling numbers indicate a decrease in public concern for climate change in...[read more]

The Globe and Mail reports that a new poll from Hoggan & Associates found Canadians are embarrassed over the lack of Canadian action on climate change. Now it is possible that readers will dismiss that finding because the pollsters are connected with a number of environmental organization (an observation, not a judgment), but I...[read more]

The recent Pew Research poll got a lot of attention for what it said about media miscoverage of the global cooling myth and the effectiveness of the disinformation campaign on climate science (see here).  But the bigger news is that like a half-dozen recent polls, it made clear the public supports action on climate and clean...[read more]

Thanks to the AAAS blog ScienceInsider:• According to PEW, a declining number of Americans see climate change occurring, 58% in October 2009, down from 71% in April 2008. The numbers seeing climate change as anthropogenic are down to 36%, from 47% in 2008.More people believe the problem is serious than believe it is anthropogenic...[read more]

A study about attitudes toward drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sheds some light on how conservationists might influence public opinion in favor of climate change legislation. When the United States Congress finishes its work on health care this Fall, the next big challenge it will take on will be climate change...[read more]