POLL: VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS (88%) THINK GLOBAL WARMING THREATENS
FUTURE GENERATIONS
Sun Mar 26 2006 10:41:53 ET
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash7.htm
Eighty-five percent (85%) of Americans say global warming is probably
happening, according to a new TIME magazine/ABC News/Stanford
University poll, out Sunday, March 26th. A vast majority of
respondents (88%) think global warming threatens future generations.
More than half (60%) say it threatens them a great deal. About
four-in-ten (38%) feel that global warming is already a serious
problem, 47% feel that it will be in the future. TIME's special
26-page cover story, 'Be Worried. Be Very Worried,' hits newsstands
Monday, March 27th.
Half of Americans (52%) say weather patterns in the county where they
live have grown more unstable in the last three years and half (50%)
feel that average temperatures have risen in their county. A majority
(70%) thinks weather patterns globally have become more unstable in
the last three years and more than half (56%) feel average
temperatures around the world have risen.
Almost half (49%) say the issue of global warming is 'extremely' or
'very important' to them personally, up from 31% in 1998. When asked
about the causes of rise in the world's temperatures, about
three-in-ten (31%) feel it is caused by the things people do, almost
one fifth (19%) feel it is caused mostly by natural causes; almost
half (49%) feel it is a combination of the two. Almost seven-in-ten
(68%) Americans think the government should do more to address global
warming, according to the poll. More than six-in-ten respondents (64%)
think scientists disagree with one another about global warming.
Two-thirds of Americans (66%) say President George W. Bush's policies
did little or nothing to help the environment in the past year. More
than half (54%) feel American businesses did little or nothing to
help. Three-quarters want to see Bush and others-Congress, American
businesses and the American public-take action to help the environment
in the year ahead. However, about one-third (35%) of Americans say
that in the past year they have personally given a lot of thought to
the impact they were having on the environment.
Six-in-ten Americans (62%) think much can be done to curb global
warming and 52% favor government mandates. Six-in-ten (61%) say they
would support a government mandate on lowering power plant emissions,
and 87% support tax breaks to develop water, wind and solar power.
Eighty-one percent oppose higher taxes on electricity, 68% oppose
higher gasoline taxes and 56% oppose giving companies tax breaks to
build nuclear power plants.
The partisan gap on global warming seems to be shifting, according to
the poll. In 1998, 31% of Republicans and Independents alike were sure
that global warming was happening; it was not a distant 39% among
Democrats. Today, 46% of Democrats and 45% of Independents are
certain, and 26% of Republicans feel that way, according to the
TIME/ABC News/Stanford University poll.
END
--
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilizaton is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
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