Poll: Fewer Americans believe in Global Warming
By Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor
Ecnmag.com - October 23, 2009
The percentage of Americans who believe in “global warming” took a nosedive in the last year. According to a Pew Research poll,
57% of those surveyed feel the Earth is warming—a sharp decline from a year ago (77%). Just over a third (36%) attribute it to “human activity”, and politically, just 53% of independents (down from 71%) see solid evidence of global warming.
An i
ncreasing number of people are questioning the science behind global warming (or “climate change,” to cite the preferred term). The shift from “global warming” to “climate change”, alone, underscores the fact that alarmists are losing the public debate. This is particularly disturbing in light of the fact that the
Obama administration has indicated its willingness to sign onto national and international cap-and-trade legislation.
The respondents' attitude towards cap-and-trade was illuminating. 50% of those surveyed favored cap-and-trade, while 39% were opposed. But
among those who know “a lot” about cap-and-trade, 64% are opposed, and just 32% support it. The evidence is clear—the more one learns about cap-and-trade, the more they oppose it. 55% of respondents knew nothing about the issue.
In a dual blow to alarmists, a study in Science posits an “accounting error” in the way greenhouse gases are calculated. The study claims that biofuels actually emit more carbon dioxide than burning gasoline. The Kyoto Protocol, and similar pieces of legislation, fails to account for the source of the fuel. As TG Daily points out, “existing forests are cleared to make room for the [biofuel] crops which absorb less CO2 than the trees they replace.”
From 1977-1998, the Earth underwent a period of global warming, coinciding with the “warm phase” of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Since then, the PDO shifted to its “cool phase,” and the Earth has actually been cooling. You’d expect the same alarmists to demand immediate action on “global cooling,” but such an assertion wouldn’t imply an indictment of industry. The silence is deafening…