From the University of Michigan , recognition of a whole new crop of, ahem, deniers. I can hear Joe Romm’s head exploding from my house.
Generation X is surprisingly unconcerned about climate change
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—As the nation suffers through a summer of record-shattering heat, a University of Michigan report finds that Generation X is lukewarm about climate change—uninformed about the causes and unconcerned about the potential dangers.
“Most Generation Xers are surprisingly disengaged, dismissive or doubtful about whether global climate change is happening and they don’t spend much time worrying about it,” said Jon D. Miller, author of “The Generation X Report.”
The new report, the fourth in a continuing series, compares Gen X attitudes about climate change in 2009 and 2011, and describes the levels of concern Gen Xers have about different aspects of climate change, as well as their sources of information on the subject.
“We found a small but statistically significant decline between 2009 and 2011 in the level of attention and concern Generation X adults expressed about climate change,” Miller said. “In 2009, about 22 percent said they followed the issue of climate change very or moderately closely. In 2011, only 16 percent said they did so.”
Miller directs the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at the U-M Institute for Social Research. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation since 1986, now includes responses from approximately 4,000 Gen Xers—those born between 1961 and 1981, and now between 32 and 52 years of age.
Only about 5 percent of those surveyed in 2011 were alarmed about climate change, and another 18 percent said they were concerned about it. But 66 percent said they aren’t sure that global warming is happening, and about 10 percent said they don’t believe global warming is actually happening.
“This is an interesting and unexpected profile,” Miller said. “Few issues engage a solid majority of adults in our busy and pluralistic society, but the climate issue appears to attract fewer committed activists—on either side—than I would have expected.”
Because climate change is such a complex issue, education and scientific knowledge are important factors in explaining levels of concern, Miller said. Adults with more education are more likely to be alarmed and concerned about climate change, he found. And those who scored 90 or above on a 100-point Index of Civic Scientific Literacy also were significantly more likely to be alarmed or concerned than less knowledgeable adults. Still, 12 percent of those who were highly literate scientifically were either dismissive or doubtful about climate change, Miller found. He also found that partisan affiliations predicted attitudes, with nearly half of liberal Democrats alarmed or concerned compared with zero percent of conservative Republicans.
“There are clearly overlapping levels of concern among partisans of both political parties,” Miller said. “But for some individuals, partisan loyalties may be helpful in making sense of an otherwise complicated issue.”
Given the greater anticipated impact of climate change on future generations, Miller expected that the parents of minor children would be more concerned about the issue than young adults without minor children.
“Not so,” he said. “Generation X adults without minor children were slightly more alarmed about climate change than were parents. The difference is small, but it is in the opposite direction than we expected.”
Miller found that Gen X adults used a combination of information sources to obtain information on the complex issue of climate change, with talking to friends, co-workers and family members among the most common sources of information.
“Climate change is an extremely complex issue, and many Generation X adults do not see it as an immediate problem that they need to address,” Miller said.
“The results of this report suggest that better educated young adults are more likely to recognize the importance of the problem, but that there is a broad awareness of the issue even though many adults prefer to focus on more immediate issues—jobs and schools for their children—than the needs of the next generation. These results will not give great comfort to either those deeply concerned about climate issues or those who are dismissive of the issue.”
Established in 1949, the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research is the world’s largest academic social science survey and research organization, and a world leader in developing and applying social science methodology, and in educating researchers and students from around the world. ISR conducts some of the most widely cited studies in the nation, including the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, the American National Election Studies, the Monitoring the Future Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the Health and Retirement Study, the Columbia County Longitudinal Study and the National Survey of Black Americans. ISR researchers also collaborate with social scientists in more than 60 nations on the World Values Surveys and other projects, and the institute has established formal ties with universities in Poland, China and South Africa. ISR is also home to the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, the world’s largest digital social science data archive. For more information, visit the ISR website at www.isr.umich.edu.
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“He also found that partisan affiliations predicted attitudes, with nearly half of liberal Democrats alarmed or concerned compared with zero percent of conservative Republicans.”
Ah, so clear proof that all conservatives are smarter than most liberals.
GenX (well deserved) cynicism saves the world again. Now just to get a few choice boomers out of power and we can start fixing things up again.
Rhys Jaggar says:
July 19, 2012 at 12:11 pm
I’d be interested if people could find a few other subjects where what is presented to the public is not what goes on.
_________________________________
Easy. Remember most of the media lies are about getting the public to go along with the laws passed that are to the advantage of a cartel. Generally they want a “monopoly” that allows them a major advantage in the market place or a place on the government gravy train (ADM/Monsanto/Cargill and biofuel-corn subsidies for example.)
These links are about food and farming a rather nuetral subject so good for an example.
REFERENCES:
From the BLOGGERS
History, HACCP and the Food Safety Con Job
WTO rules put free-trade of agribusiness above national health concerns
Five Minutes With John Munsell & A Trip To The Woodshed With The USDA
Legislators overlook serious flaw in USDA’s HACCP food-safety system—while promoting its adoption by FDA
SHIELDING THE GIANT: USDA’s “Don’t Look, Don’t Know” Policy
A solemn walk through HR 875
Trojan Horse Law: The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
Congress blasts FDA’s plan to close 7 labs …Lawmakers also criticized the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to close half of its laboratories….
Note the set up. Close gov’t testing labs, use new HACCP to turn food safety over to the corporations and then scream bloody murder when the food borne illnesses double with in three years (my check on the CDC stats before and after 1995)
Media Hype on illnesses
Food Safety In The 21st Century
E. Coli, Salmonella and Other Deadly Bacteria and Pathogens in Food: Factory Farms Are the Reason
More Burger Tests: Good For Health But Too Costly?
Peanut Case Shows Holes in Safety Net
There have been plenty more stories about food borne illness over the last fifteen years.
Please note that the new law does nothing to increase food safety. It only extends the HACCP regs (paperwork) to all farmers and triggers WTO “traceability” so the corporations can point the finger at a farmer and pass the liability off to someone else. Instead of protecting US consumers and farmers from foreign disease it gets rid of the protection put in place by Congress before they would ratify WTO. This was done by inserting a clause in the new law that makes US regs obey the dictates of WTO. It is a common sleight of hand. “Compromise” on the bill to get it to pass and then a few years later slip in all the parts that were removed during the compromise as one liners on uncontroversial bills.
Protection clause: http://www.eastlaw.net/research/wto/wto2b.htm
The FDA’s lies about that clause and WTO are here: http://www.fda.gov/Food/InternationalActivities/ucm103013.htm
There is a lot more to the story but those articles cover the gist of it.
None of the issues I have looked into are any more straight forward. The Power Mongers could give Machiavelli lessons.
We were born during the late part of the last negative PDO and the very first few years of the recently deceased positive PDO. As “youts” we experienced the ’82 – ’83 El Nino, the grand benchmark only bested by ’97 – ’98. We saw the great cool down of late ’98 – ’99, a warning wave of things to come. As we reach well into Middle Age we now slide down the razor blade of life (again) and steel ourselves for some lean years to come. We don’t fear warmth but do fear cold.
I’m a Gen Xer and I’m not at all concerned about climate change beyond what I’ll have to do to adapt to it. I’m far more concerned that all of Gen X is being sacrificed on the Boomer’s alter and that we’ll basically spend the rest of our lives trying to clean up their mess if we want our children to have anything approaching normalcy.
And yes, I remember growing up through crisis after crisis. I’m a bit too young really remember the last “Ice Age,” but I do remember nuclear winter, acid rain, the advent of Global Warming, peak oil, peak population, Bird Flu and on and on … I’m currently enjoying the 2012 Apocalypse.
Disclaimer: I work for a large electricity provider. My opinions are my own and don’t represent my employers.
That done.
This exact article went up on our intranet corporate website which allows employees to comment on. It has gotten some of the most interest of any other article has in the last few weeks with many dozens of disparate comments and some pretty decent discussion. A few of us are also WUWT readers, but I don’t see any responses from those folks above this 103 ish comment.
I’m an X-er myself though a bit on the young side, born in ’75. I went to a nifty private school for elementary and recall vividly the winter of 82-83 and the bitterness of that. I recall seeing some old magazine articles discussing the returning ice age, though the particular author said it might get warm before it got cold. The Arctic Ocean may lose lots of ice, then the earth could dump a massive amount of heat into space without it’s hat on. Hrm….
Damn! Missed it by that much!
Those of us who were born in 1960 resent being considered Baby Boomers and hence the parents of those, like my brother, who were born in 1961. That being said, I went through the environmental permutations of the Baby Boomers, but like the Gen Xers with whom I more closely identify (economically as well as ideologically), became cynical when the predictions of doom went pphfffft.
Boomers sure are making a hash of politics and governance, as well (not to mention science). They seem to be as hypocritical in betraying their own ideals and standards as was the generation that came before – although to my recollection, the generation that preceded them was most contemptible, according to them, for its ‘hypocrisy’.
David M. Hoffer – beautiful! I’ve often wondered which is the golden but endangered future generation for which we are all supposed to be sacrificing.
I’m a GenX’er… born in ’75… but my upbringing was more of a Boomer upbringing… I have 12 siblings, was raised strictly Roman Catholic, was not allowed to watch TV (Boomers didn’t have TV), and had a bed time of 8P.M. until I was 15. One of my favorite actresses growing up was Doris Day. I did not watch and have never watched MTV for fun. I learned how to fix things while working with my dad on the house/car/garage etc (mostly because I was a trouble maker, and my mom sent me to help my dad).
After working as an electrical engineer for 10 years and meeting lots of Boomers, I don’t think my parents are really Boomer generation people either. And I would most certainly agree with those people here who believe that the Boomer generation are, for the most part, rich and greedy scondrels. Nearly all of them are very concerned about how big a slice of the American pie they get… But generational issues aside…
It would appear from the short introduction in the presentation linked by:
Eric: July 19, 2012 at 7:34 am
that the Civic Scientific Literacy test is designed well as a basic measure of current science knowledge including evolution, physics, chemistry, math — all very basic understanding… no AGW is included (at least in the presentation)
The most interesting part of the study concluding that more scientific knowledge imparts belief in AGW is that AGW can only be believed if you remove the basic tenet of reason, scientific test, and substitute the basic tenet of religion, belief in an unprovable idea… not unlike the invisible dragon in my garage.
Personally, after reviewing thousands of pages of material in several areas of climate, including several text books and other materials, I can truly say that anyone who believes the science is settled has no idea about the science.
Is their research as slanted as the article?
Being born in 1961 this is the first time I have heard I was in Gen X, I was always told I was at the tail end of the baby boomers….
I expect that once the questioned worked out what the questions were about they lost interest and just wanted it to end as soon as possible and would say almost anything if they thought it would get to the end quicker. I have used similar tactics in work place surveys (first page answers all 1 second page 2 etc etc) and come up with some strange results but it keeps the pen pushes out of my way which is always good!
James Bull
Gen-x the unfortunate generation that spans multiple consensus based science failures (global cooling, global warming, cold fusion, the cause of stomach ulcers, and the list goes on) and the rise of the computers and internet. Confidence in engineering is high, confidence in science is low.
If you really want to know first hand what the state of education is in the US casually make the suggestion to any random person that we should shut down all NCAA div I & II sports programs.
@Tsk Tsk
“Groovy” man…yeah.
Pft. Yeah we’re a cynical generation, and with good cause. A lot of us like what Bryan Hunt said, don’t trust the science because we’ve been manipulated by the flappy heads through school. Engineering though? Yeah I trust that, I trust the science behind the engineering too, because I understand the math, chemistry, physics, metallurgy behind that as well. But “climate science” seems one very small step away from someone in a back room shaking chicken bones, and reading out how they’ll affect my future. Then telling me, don’t worry “I know what this means, and all the data is right *here*”
More on the generations theory. The main theory used in the US and Canada is the Strauss and Howe model. A saeculum consists of ~80 years and includes 4 turnings as follows: 1st turning (The High), 2nd turning (The Awakening), 3rd turning (The Unravelling), 4th turning (The Crisis). Each turning is ~ 20 years. To those familiar with Spengler’s cyclical history model this is like a version of it in microcosm. Not a complete civilization cycle but more minor cycles within it. In any case, the current saeculum began at the point in WW2 where it became apparent the Allies would win (1942 more or less). The 1T was the time the Boom generation grew up. That name Boom has more to do with growing up during the Boom than the demographic Baby Boom in certain countries. The 1T went from ~’42 to ~ ’61. Then came the Awakening (far out man) going until ~ ’81. Those born during it are the X or 13th Generation (aka 13ers). Then came the Unravelling going until ~ 9/11. Those born during it are Millennials. We are now in The Crisis. Those born during it are the Homeland Generation.
From a comment above–
Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University who was not involved with the survey, was encouraged that a majority of Gen Xers recognized the threat. Once the economy recovers, he said, people will be better prepared to tackle climate change.
Ah, but the AGW screamers have caused wind farms and shut down coal plants. This is EXTREMELY expensive and can probably explain the entire current global financial meltdown, with some help from too-much-bureaucracy hindering employers.
So they’ll never get there until they wake up from the alarmism.
We need to emphasize related fields more. Anthony is an expert on weather, and we hear regularly from physicists, astromomers and climate researchers.
We do hear from biologists such as myself, and from economists. We need more. We also need to find out what works best to communicate to those idiot Democrats. They’re suffering too, maybe more than we are, and need to understand why Big Government hurts the economy (jobs) AND the Environment.
“Kay says:
July 19, 2012 at 9:14 am
Bob Rogers says:
July 19, 2012 at 7:19 am
[quote]Not only does GenX remember the global cooling scare, but we also grew up under the shadows of the threat of nuclear holocaust. Every single person I knew in high school believed there would be nuclear war between the USA and the USSR.[/quote]
I remember having to watch The Day After for an assignment. And when we bombed Libya (I was in 11th grade), everyone was so freaked out because we thought it was the start of WW III and we were going to get nuked. We were so worried that our history teacher had a round table discussion about it instead of whatever we were supposed to do that day. He did his best to calm us down, but people were still really upset and scared.”
What is it with Americans? A fair proportion of you all seem to be very easily scared – by everything. I well remember the Cuban missile crisis and I was not at all worried because I knew the Soviet leadership wanted to live as much as the Americans did. However the thought that nuclear weapons could get into the hands of stateless terrorists…….
But scared or not, Americans need to lead the way in denouncing the IPCC and all its works! More money sustaining this dangerous myth comes from America than anywhere else.
By the way, has the funding, by the US government, of the CRU in East Anglia (suspended after Climategate) been resumed?
Dang it. I used to think I was a young Boomer. Now I’m reclassified as an old Gen-X’er. I feel demoted.
Speaking of nuclear war, who else here has read Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank? Good book, highly recommended. While modern viewpoints have labeled it far too optimistic as to surviving what comes afterwards, I’ll note I first heard those viewpoints when “experts” were certain there’d be a devastating nuclear winter.
If nothing else, it really gets one thinking about what one really needs to survive catastrophe, in the following days to the years, with an unflinching realism that’d severely upset the pacifist vegans who think at worst they’ll be waiting at the curb to be rescued by the National Guard for a few days, rather than by local responders in a few hours.
Good read when we were assigned it back in high school, still good today. If you’ve never read it before, then it’d be good for you to read it soon.
Someone suggested that better educated are more inclined to believe. In my experience the less technologically educated the higher the belief, which is near zero in computer modellers who have examined the coding is detail and see the dire ignorance of any natural sources and uses of the natural emissions by other natural systems, and therefore have a zero proof that any extra CO2 will not just result in the identical resulting balance point.
How can anyone with a grasp of even basic mathematics believe that if the science was proven before a ” huge methane source in the Arctic 2 was discovered climate scientists could be anything other than bunglers or liars overselling their product.
Why is this a surprise? In the 70’s, Gen X’ers were told there would be a second ice age. In the 80’s there was a hole in the ozone that was going to kill us all. The 90’s through today it has been global warming. I’m not a genius, but it seems to me that global weather/climate just runs in cycles and is more affected by the sun than humans. I guess one thing did stick with Gen X’ers. We were also told not to believe everything that was fed to us by the powers that be. Proud that we learned that one.