Overwhelming American Majority Support Action on Global Warming

Despite the controversy over climate change, a recent poll maintains the majority of Americans support the concept of global warming and international cooperation with regard to it. This flies in the face of recent criticism from naysayers.

The Benenson Strategy Group conducted the poll by doing 1,000 interviews were with registered voters nationwide from December 12-15, 2009. These results, it should be noted, only reflect those on the political rosters as opposed to Joe American who may not be oriented towards voting in areas where commitment is low. What the poll found, reported the National Wildlife Federation in its response to the information, was that most people want action to limit carbon pollution and move the U.S. toward a clean energy future, “The American people can't be more clear when it comes to solving global warming: they want the U.S. to be Rudolph out in front of the sleigh, leading the world toward a clean energy future,” said Jeremy Symons, senior vice president of NWF. “There is overwhelming public support for the Senate to pass legislation with firm limits on carbon pollution that will stimulate massive new investments in clean energy technologies.” These are the statistics reported by the poll: 82 percent voters and 80 percent of Independents, support investment in clean energy sources. 67 percent of voters and 67 percent of Independents, support limits on carbon pollution and other gases The majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring, but there is a strong division based on party lines. Democrats and Independents were found by the poll to be "overwhelmingly acknowledging global warming is real" while Republicans aren't united on the subject. 67 percent of those surveyed believe global warming is happening, 31 percent do not 91 percent of the Democrats believe global warming is happening, 8 percent don’t 64 percent of the Independents believe global warming is occuring while 32 percent do not 43 percent believe in global warming while 54 percent do not This comes on the heels of the close of the conference in Copenhagen where the nations of the world were unable to come to solid agreements on climate change, the mechanisms behind it and what to do with regard to it. The Guardian summarized the outcomes of the conference reflecting the diversity of opinions and noting the failure of the conference while pointing out the responsibilities of individuals with respect to helping the process of protecting the environment. Time Magazine found in 2006 a majority of Americans were concerned about global warming and believed it would affect their lives. 85% were reported to believe global warming is happening and 88% believed it would threaten future generations. :