From the Pew Research Center.
I wonder if Senator Kerry has seen this. Once again, climate change is dead last. Since energy comes in second, watch now as “climate change” gets morphed into “energy needs” as the new target of our climatic friends.
The public views tougher regulations on financial institutions as an important priority for Congress, but far more want Congress to take action on the job situation and energy policy. In thinking about financial regulation, as many say they worry that the government will go too far in regulating financial markets, making it harder for the economy to grow, as say they worry that the government will not go far enough, leaving the country at risk of another financial crisis.
Congress’s overall job ratings remain abysmal. More generally, most Americans express little or no confidence in Washington to make progress over the next year on the biggest issues facing the country.
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These are the principal findings from a new weekly survey with a special focus on the themes and issues directly related to Congress. The Pew Research/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, sponsored by SHRM, will complement the Pew Research Center’s ongoing comprehensive surveys on politics, the press, the economy and international affairs. The survey, conducted May 13-16 among 1,002 adults, also finds:
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Only about a third (32%) says it is very important for Congress to address climate change in the coming months, including 47% of Democrats, 29% of independents and 17% of Republicans. This is consistent with earlier Pew Research surveys that show the public putting a relatively low priority on addressing climate change.
Full story here at the Pew Research Center
Of course.
“It’s the economy, stupid!”
I can`t wait for 9 out of 10 Americans think Congressional action on climate change is a priority, you know the cold kills.
toyotawhizguy says:
May 22, 2010 at 3:03 am
In Science magazine a while back an article about the latest attempts to calculate pi to the umpteen zillionth decimal place made a passing reference to a curious Oklahoma law. It said Oklahoma legislators had passed a law making pi equal to 3.0.
toyotawhizguy, not in Oklahoma! We cowpokes have more sense than that. Do some research and try one of those states up north. 😉
(Does give you an idea of Science magazine’s accuracy though!)
“Funny that terrorism is not on the list, like anthrax, bombs, shootings,etc. America is taking that for granted I guess.”
Any threat or risk, with long enough exposure, becomes commonplace because the person learns the parameters of the risk and develops a likelihood of it happening in their head. Once you can quantify the fear, you can manage it, and most people do.
Thus people fly in planes and drive in cars, even though gruesome death through crashes happens to a (relatively) small number of people each year. Young people take drugs even though there are well documented cases of how it can mess up your life and kill you in horrible ways.
The same with terrorism : years pass, bombings, attempted bombings, killings and threats continue, but people have accepted this as part of normal life and are no longer controlled by their fear. It’s just not as shocking as it once was.
The same goes for climate-related end-of-the-world stories. When they first were popularised, everyone was scared for the future. Now that years pass and things stay the same, the stories have lost their effect, and people are no longer scared by them. In fact, it’s become the norm to laugh at ridiculous fear stories about climate change, or at least to ignore them even if you are a true believer.
The correct response to terrorism is to increase regular police investigations and live life as normal. Security theatre at airports and post offices are only there so governments can be seen to be doing something, and help keep the ‘fear’ alive in the populations mind. Eventually terrorism stops working until they can come up with a new way of making a previously ‘safe’ activity scary.