In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, 71 percent of Americans say President Obama and Congress should make developing clean sources of energy a high priority, an 11 percent increase since January, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by Yale University and George Mason University, also revealed that 77 percent of Americans support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate will vote on a resolution by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating CO2 under the Clean Air Act. The poll showed that as memories of a cold winter and the scandal over the hacked e-mails of climate scientists fade, concern about global warming is on the rise. From January to June, belief that global warming is happening rose four points, to 61 percent; belief that it is caused by human activity increased three points, to 50 percent; and the number of Americans who said the issue is personally important to them rose five points, to 63 percent. The number of Americans who say that the U.S. should make a large or medium-scale effort to reduce global warming, even if it incurs large or moderate economic costs, rose to 69 percent, a seven-point increase.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360
photo: hlkljgk
