Despite billions spent annually on outreach, education, and outright propaganda, a new Gallup poll shows Americans still don’t think climate change is the most significant environmental concern facing the world.
As shown in Figure 1 below, “Global warming or climate change” ranked dead last among seven environmental issues in the new 2022 Gallup Poll.
Those surveyed ranked the drinking water pollution as their top environmental concern. The “pollution of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs,” ranked second among the public’s environmental concerns. Concern over “the loss of tropical rain forests,” “air pollution,” species extinction, ranked third through fifth in order. “Global warming or climate change,” came in dead last as the environmental concern those surveyed “worried [about] a great deal.”
Gallup’s press release states:
From 2001 to 2015, closer to a third of Americans said they worried a great deal about the environment, with the figure exceeding 40% only twice, in 2001 and 2007.
In terms of which environmental issues Americans worry about, Gallup finds pollution of drinking water and pollution of natural waterways at the top of the list, with majorities saying they worry a great deal about each. This includes more than six in 10 Democrats, 58% of independents and about four in 10 Republicans.
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Global warming is also a major concern for Democrats, at 67%, while ranking last among independents and Republicans. Air pollution and loss of tropical rain forests rank as mid-level concerns for all groups.
Americans have repeatedly ranked ‘climate change’ aka Global Warming dead last among all environmental issues.
Here is a timeline of poll results related to the topic:
2012 Gallup survey: Climate dead-last among all ENVIRONMENTAL concerns
2015 Gallup: Americans Worry Least About Global Warming
Clearly there is a consensus amongst the public that there are bigger environmental problems to worry about than climate change.
Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at The Heartland Institute. Watts has been in the weather business both in front of, and behind the camera as an on-air television meteorologist since 1978, and currently does daily radio forecasts. He has created weather graphics presentation systems for television, specialized weather instrumentation, as well as co-authored peer-reviewed papers on climate issues. He operates the most viewed website in the world on climate, the award-winning website wattsupwiththat.com.
“Americans Still Rank ‘Climate Change’ Dead Last Among Environmental Concerns”
So do most people that are not in the cult.
Ordinary people are far less stupid than environmental activists think.
But it it about first with Democrats at 67%. Gotta love the 13% for Republicans, showing enormous polarization. This is politically paralyzing as far as crazy green dreams go. Other polls show 80% of Republicans not even believing AGW, much less worrying about it. Woohoo
Though climate change is ranked last overall, the numbers are very disturbing.
67% of Democrats worry about it a great deal. The point would not be to immediately post that Democrats are nuts generally. The point is that for 67% of one of the two political parties in a country to be worrying a great deal about this fantasy is very bad news.
It is bound to lead to, and is leading to, every madder attempts to do something, anything, that can be sold as doing something about this imaginary problem. Hence we arrive at the lunatic campaigns to ban ICE vehicles, move power generation to wind and solar, prevent US gas and oil transport or exploration.
The other very disturbing thing is the split between Democrats and Republicans. By contrast to the 67%, Republicans worrying a great deal are down at 13%. This is bound to lead to ever more acrimonious debate and division. And has.
I am sure that if you asked similar questions about gender and race you’d get similar results. As Democrats and Republicans whether they think trans women are women, and it would probably be 70% yes versus 10%. Ask them about race, and the split on the question of whether the US is a systemically racist society, probably similar. Ask about so called affirmative action in college admissions and racial quotas on hirings, it would probably be similar. Abortion, same-sex marriage, probably similar. Whether the last election was fraudulently manipulated.
Climate is just one more item. Its a manifestation of an increasingly bitter culture war where the lines of demarcation are getting increasingly clear and its become a binary issue, for us or against us, on both sides.
I have no idea how it can be resolved, but what is clear is that this is a heading to levels of division that characterize societies, like Northern Ireland, which have lost, or never had, any sense of community, of belonging to the same country and loyal to it, and tolerating disagreement as secondary to that. What substitutes for that is a sense that we are a community, we know who we are and who they are, we are right, they are wrong.
And also the sense that whether they are right or wrong, who cares, they are not us, and we don’t like them and will have as little to do with them as possible.
One thing that contributes to this is social media with its algorithms, so you end up always getting material which is tailored to your views. Another is the extreme mobility of American society, so people end up moving to areas which are mainly inhabited by people like us.
Very serious. And a very different American from how it was, and was valued for being, as recently as 1965. There were deeply felt differences about Vietnam of course. But within that, it was still about one America. Now, one feels, it really is not any more.
The left has done a marvelous job building their message in schools and critical thinking is slowly reducing in numbers.
On Sky News Australia last night, Bolt Report, there was discussion on the propaganda campaign by Greens related groups producing alarmist propaganda videos complete with material for school teachers to use and distribute to their students supporting the video deceptive information.
The informant said that each presentation requires many teaching hours and therefore time that should be used to teach children approved subjects. He said that what teachers are doing does not have the official support of Departments of Education (State Government Public Schools), does not meet the guidelines for teaching. Despite this the indoctrination of children has been taking place for a decade or more in Australia.
The deceptive video material is similar to Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth that a Court of Law in Great Britain decided was misleading and if shown to school children they must first be advised that the content was deceptive.
So the panel decided that politicians who have ignored this deserve the consequences as children become adult voters and are effectively captive to the climate based political agendas.
Dividing people is a feature, not a bug. It is one of the way they can bring about their twisted vision for the future.
Neither Joe Biden nor Boris Johnson invented the phrase “build back better”. A UN organization did, excepting they used “building back better”. This statement implies something is destroyed. After all, you cannot build something back that is already built and strong. For all the flaws of Donald Trump, the economy was strong until it was sabotaged by this COVID hysteria. Why would a strong economy need to be built back? It can only be built back once it has been destroyed.
Dividing people is part of their plan to destroy capitalism, and thus liberty. So is the climate change movement. Isn’t it odd that oppressive communist China is hardly ever condemned for their environmental crimes? Isn’t it odd that liberals never condemn Islamic countries?
Another way to divide people is to make them angry. There will always be a non-stop boogeyman to keep people angry. Angry people are easily controlled. Look at how quickly mobs formed after a draft US supreme court decision was illegally leaked out.
It is all what these rich, corrupt, powerful hypocrites want. Climate change was never about the environment; it was always about the destruction of liberty.
And now the US Congress has taxed future generations of American children to build Ukraine back better. $40B worth. But then again, how much has Hunter Biden actually built in his lifetime? SMH
To my knowledge nothing has been spent on rebuilding Ukraine. How could that be done while Russian missiles are still devastating Ukrainian apartment buildings and hospitals?
The money is being spent to help Ukraine, at their cost of great suffering and civilian deaths, to hold back Russian expansion. Because if Putin succeeds at this, the Chinese will be encouraged to invade Taiwan, and then little fat boy will be encouraged to invade the South, and then,,,, well you get the idea.
we shouldn’t spend a single dollar more on supporting Ukraine. This is not our fight and not at all an issue for national security. NATO aggression and Ukraine failed leadership is what drove Russia to take action to recover what had been part of their country for longer than it was separate. The US cannot be the world police and we should not be spending our money when we have many problems to solve here.
You know, when Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, where most of the residents were German speaking and German heritage, that wasn’t our fight either. Sitting back and doing nothing worked out well for us in the end. 🙁
There is no limit to stupidity. How much would it have cost the U.S. in terms of money and lives to destroy 25% of Russia’s military effectiveness, which the Ukrainians have done. I think we are weakening Russia very cheaply.
‘67% of Democrats worry about it a great deal. This Saturday morning spend an hour or two watching the “Approved” children’s shows. You will see at least one climate change plug per show. Get tired of that watch the “Educational” Documentaries. NatGeo, Discovery, etc. I have not seen one that does not carry on about how this will not exist as CC will destroy it and they all end with five minutes of a PSA, woven into the program, about the effects of CC. They are being brainwashed. I even say a cartoon where the child went ballistic when her father threw a soda can in the trash.
Since approximately 110-115% of Democrat voters voted for Joe Biden, it is surprising that only 67% are concerned about his signature “climate crisis”.
“I have no idea how it can be resolved, “
Free speech is the answer. There needs to be free speech in the schools and in the media. Open debate will thrive in an envronment of free speech. It won’t take long before the truth will win out in that kind of an environment.
Shhhhhhh! You need to keep that under your hat! Homeland Security created the
Ministry of Truth to keep people misinformed about basic facts & how the Dems are
destroying America. They used the excuse that minorities were being misinformed
by us evil Deplorables- why should the Gubmint let us have all the fun! They
put it in Homeland Security where they have subpoena power & can financially
break people with accusations alone, like what was done with Gen Mike Flynn.
The Attorney General launched the Environmental Justice Office where they’ll also
have subpoena power. Adviser Gina Lynn announced 100+ new regs concerning
appliances where they’ll absolutely use subpoenas for 100% compliance- or else.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/08/attorney-general-launches-new-office-of-environmental-justice/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=attorney-general-launches-new-office-of-environmental-justice
After one commenter tipped us off on what the next department the Gubmint will
create, I did some research & here’s what I found:
The last thing on the list will be the first thing to impoverish them
No shit Sherlock. (No sarcasm intended)
But the fanatics will continue to work hard and spend OP’s money to make it the number one issue.
I love statistics and I know how to lie, damned lie and rip government statistics to shreds:
With 43% of adults, you may argue that “despite decades of climate alarmism and propaganda to peddle unreliables and having costed trillions, less than half the population belives that the climate problem exist at all”
Oddgeir
I generally don’t give credence to polls because I and everyone I have talked to don’t participate in polls. The questions are always biased toward an agenda.
Whoever is taking this poll as evidence of anything is probably thinking that nearly half of the populace is easily swayed by propaganda. The question is whether they think more propaganda will sway the rest or whether they should eliminate the “resisters”.
I think the fact that approximately half of all Americans are “worried a great deal” about all environmental issues is itself something to be worried about. On the other hand, it is a poll, and all polls are suspect because the people in them tend to be self-selected. It is unlikely anyone would ever get me to respond to a poll.
Plus, everyone “knows” the correct answer is that you are at least somewhat worried about AGW. You don’t want to be called a “denier” do you?
It is the economy, stupid. Seems like somebody said that already.
Interesting — I didn’t know pollution of drinking water is such a big concern. Seriously, that topic never seems to come up anywhere or at anytime.
The facts are the world is much cleaner today than it was 50 years ago. However, there are places where the situation is much worse. Unfortunately, we seem to be increasingly reliant upon those places for goods and raw materials.
I wonder what the responses would be if simply asked an open-ended question such as “What’s your biggest environmental concern” instead of providing a pre-selected list?
If you knew the number of people I know who buy drinking water, you would not be surprised that it is #1. This despite water that is better than at least 90% of the world drinks.
Just ask the people in Flint Michigan, or even Detroit for that matter.
Because you don’t live in Africa, or rural India, or even Venezuela. If you did, you would be very concerned. What a shame that of all of the money wasted on Renewables (sic), not even a small part of it is being spent providing safe drinking water for the poor in 4th world countries.
The cure for lies is the passage of time.
Nothing that is pure horseshit can stand up to endless scrutiny.
It is just a matter of time before the extent of the deception is apparent to nearly everyone.
I’d say “mission accomplished”. The fact that 43% of Americans are “worried a great deal” about global warming means the eco-fraud left is winning. Winning bigly. How such a huge percentage of so-called adults can take CAGW seriously … despite boatloads of FAKE science … funded with their great, great, great, grandchildren’s debt … makes me depressed. I’ve lived in N.CA for 67 of my 67 years … and the climate hasn’t changed one iota. What’s changed is a population explosion and IDIOTS dumping our reservoirs as if river flow has EVER been the same “normal” amount from year to year. As if CA’s natural river flows were NEVER variable from year to year.
In a recent post by David Middleton, the UN is even recognizing their models that have a
tropopausal hot spot run hot. The Team™ has to acknowledge reality & shift its position.
People like Anthony, The Drs. Pielke, Judith, Nick, The M&M boys, the UAH crew,
Willis, etc., etc., etc., have kept the pressure on through ALL these years & the
cracks are finally showing! Zeke is both young & very intelligent & sees the
handwriting on the wall I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH!
Use of ‘too hot’ climate models exaggerates impacts of global warming
U.N. report authors say researchers should avoid suspect models
4 MAY 2022 11:00 AM BYPAUL VOOSEN
Rud’s comment:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/09/climate-models-have-not-exaggerated-global-warming-except-when-they-do/#comment-3513821
Secondly, climate is the lowest worry in polls vs the economy, jobs, etc.- real problems people face
reveals true worries. In a comment above, 2hotel9 said it best: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
So when you feel all is lost, remember they’re not winning as people will flee them when reality
bites! Why else would they need a “Ministry of Truth”? They’re desperate & going for
broke as there’s no coming back from such radical actions.
I wonder if you are taking into account these are slanted polls, with leading questions, being asked by folks with a clear agenda. Mainly asking Liberals anyway, as Conservatives don’t want to talk with them. Under these circumstances, few people are courageous enough to be labeled a “denier” by saying they could care less.
More to the point, see the polls that ask people how much they are willing to pay to “combat climate change”. 50% say $5 a month, the other 50% say “nothing”. That’s how concerned they really are. And just try to collect that $5 from the people who “say” they are willing to pay it. 🙂
Well, there isn’t much spread between first and last – just 14%, and the last four are probably equal within the margin of error in this poll. So I would not take that much comfort from it as a climate skeptic.
I think a much more meaningful poll is to rank all of the issues that Americans face, not just environmental. Things like jobs, inflation, housing, supply chain problems, the war in Ukraine, education, personal relationships, social issues (like parenting, “cancel culture”, online bullying, suicide, alienation, etc.), health, etc. etc.
In that kind of a list, where global warming ranks is likely going to be far below 7th place. In most such generalized polls on which issues most concern respondents, typically global warming ranks somewhere near 20th give or take a few spots.
I look at survival and climate change is no threat to survival as defined by those pushing it because they provide no proof.
My concern is regulations designed to force us off traditional energy and into poverty and a weakened nation. And without the consent of the people.
That’s odd. Nowhere on that list of environmental “concerns” do I see anything about the massive environmental devastation created by Big Green, from the massive clearing of land required to the slaughter of birds and bats they cause, and other environmental degradations here and abroad. Must be some mishtake, shirely.
The visual blight of wind factories … contraptions covering the land as far as the eye can see. Show the respondents PICTURES of these contraptions… uglier (and far more prolific) than a strip mine.
Very interesting and appropriate. For most Americans the other issues listed are also imaginary to the greater extent and exaggerated by the same loons pushing global warming. Great to see CAGW can’t outcompete equally imaginary environmental issues. It’s far more interesting to see these concerns ranked against real problems: border security, national security, jobs, education, inflation, violent crime, threats to constitutional freedoms, political corruption etc. People have some commons sense after all in spite of the impression given by the media and politicos.
Survey says…Americans are correct!
If this is where “Americans” (IMHO, a somewhat ill-defined term) rank climate change™ in terms of priority, just image how much lower the rest of the world—most struggling to just get their next meal or drink of clean water— rank this meme.
As for distinguishing Republican vs. Democrat vs Independents ranking of this, methinks that is akin to the age-old debate over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
The fearmongering blitz, once the panic wears off is transparent and stupid. Even my young teens figured it out fast. The consumption of social media, online news, blogging since Feb 2020…(even with it’s addictive psych tech), will likely lead to a backlash that will marginalize many news services, social media outlets and blogs by more and more people moving on to greener pastures like their backyards ..it’ s just more interesting and fun back there. Don’t get me wrong, Blogging can be delirious fun. If it wasn’t for the massive political harangue WUWT might be suffering a major down turn like so many other blogs. It’s time for Church dances, bridge clubs, bowling Clubs, community choirs, Brass band concerts, local and school based theater, face to face poker games, movies, dating, pipe smoking festivals, burn lots of charcoal, throw horse shoes, conferences, colleges that ban virtual crap, time for drag racing, and motor boating etc. It might not be great for my retirement nest egg but I foresee a bit of a tech down turn…. who can watch another horrible TV show or lackluster film and who isn’t bored with Y tube and reading blogs..
As others have noted, the split between believers and non-believers roughly follows along the same ‘party’ line divisions seen on all other economic and social issues. Given that the bureaucracy, academia and media are all on the side of climate (and racial, gender, etc,) alarmism, there’s probably no quick way back on the climate issue other than a hard economic downturn. However, such downturns are often dangerous given mankind’s demonstrated propensity to look for ‘great men’ to lead them back to prosperity.
We should take comfort, however, in knowing that the entire basis of climate alarmism is scientific garbage. Specifically, we know that 1) there is no evidence that CO2 has driven temperature in the last 65 million years, 2) the historical thermometer record lacks areal coverage and has been ‘tampered’ with to support the narrative and 3) the GCMs have not demonstrated any skill in predicting observed temperatures, and in fact are unable to make skillful predictions due to the propagation of large errors throughout their calculations.
To me, then, it looks like a race between our current leaders, who appear to be intentionally driving us over a socialist cliff, and hopefully better leaders, who will bring good science into the daylight, thereby defanging the government, academic and media enablers of the climate alarm narrative.
You would think that “Adults” and “Republicans” would both be under one heading.
??
Notice they use the word ‘concern’ not ‘problem’.
Many people express concerns about nuclear power plants. My job was not to address the concerns but to make problems insignificant so that no one would be hurt.
For example, the water we released was less radioactive than the water from the river intake. To address a concern, we sent samples to a national lab. The headline in the Sacramento Bee was, “Rancho Seco Releases Tained Water”.
My job was safety, a journalists sells papers.and boating.
Education is the key to addressing concerns. Here are some verifiable facts based on measurements to standards addressing concerns listed.
Our drinking water is safe.
Our rivers, lakes, oceans, and reservoirs are safe for swimming with respect to man made pollution. The problem where I sail is spring mountain runoff that is cold and has sediment. If you go overboard without a PFD, they m
Doing something again that posts my comment before I am done, to continue
they may not find your body.
I am not concern about rain forest.
Our is at the highest category (good) almost all the time.
Thee is no standard for extinctions.
Climate change is a theory about the future. If I could do anything for future generations, I would make it warmer or at keep from getting cooler.
So there are no problems in the list. As far as concerns go, who does not like a bad zombie movie.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2022/may/11/fossil-fuel-carbon-bombs-climate-breakdown-oil-gas
In which hysteria at the Guardian reaches new heights, with talk now of ‘carbon bombs’. Otherwise known to the rest of us as development projects…
Unusually for the Guardian it has noticed that most of these are not Western projects. But a few can, and they come in for especial vituperation.
When will people wake up and realize that the inflation they see is caused by the ridiculously high cost of energy, coal, oil, NG, heating oil, diesel fuel, gas, electricity. When the brainless, unplanned, GND is implemented you will wish, pray, plead to go back to fossil fuel. However, many utilities are shutting down down and salvaging their fossil fuel power plants. Blackouts will be as common as the sunrise and sunset. The price of a battery storge unit for Chicago, to limit blackouts to be no longer than one week, will cost as much as a new nuclear power plant, and every city with a population over 100,000 will need one. The prices for energy will be double and closer to quadruple what they are now. All of the atrociously high costs of food, clothing, housing will also double or quadruple. Suggest you find a pacific island that is habitable with out heating or cooling.
Vote for a climate change believer and it will come sooner.
Lessee here…. we have 100,000+/- years of glaciation followed by 15,000+/- years of warm interglacial conditions. This has been going on for a few million years. Glacial… interglacial… glacial… interglacial… and so on and so on.
I note in passing that CO2 in the atmosphere has been many, many, many times greater than current levels and the oceans did not boil away and the Earth did not become Venus 2.0.
I also note that the Global Average Surface Temperature has been going up and down and up and down and up and down for several millennia, but the general trend is down. Makes sense to me since we are in an interglacial and will at some point head into another 100,000 or so year period of glaciation, should the usual climate patterns hold.
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Sooooooo… I ask myself; where should I rank any concern of Catastrophic CO2-Based Anthropogenic Runaway Global Warming?
As near as I can figure, dead last compared to what may happen to my 401k, my heating and cooling bills, my grocery bills, oh… the passing nuclear Armageddon which the pResident and staff are flirting with, and hangnails – definitely hangnails – rate ahead of any Climate Change® worries I might have.
Why don’t these pollsters ever call me to get my opinion? At the least, they should dial up Peta if they want the lowdown on Climate Change®.
The question asked if you “personally worry” about the environmental issues they listed. In 1976 I started my studies in wastewater treatment because I was concerned about reiver and lake pollution (I like to fish). I eventually worked in the field for over 34 years with a group of people who overall were equally concerned and were some of the most professional and competent in the field. The agency I worked for has as their mission “to protect the public health and environment” and has continuously done an exceptional job.
People who are worried or concerned about these issues should move their careers into their field of worry and do the actual hard work to accomplish their goals.
I’m not concerned about anything on the list. Except for climate change, all of them are local or regional problems, best dealt with through local or regional efforts. Since climate change is a nonexistent problem, the whole thing is meaningless.
What chance do Dems have to get better information or facts that don’t fit the narrative? They aren’t exactly trying either.