Essay by Eric Worrall
“… individuals don’t feel they have the bandwidth to tackle climate action “on top of everything else,” …”
AP-NORC poll: Many in US doubt their own impact on climate
By HANNAH FINGERHUT and NUHA DOLBY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are less concerned now about how climate change might impact them personally — and about how their personal choices affect the climate — than they were three years ago, a new poll shows, even as a wide majority still believe climate change is happening.
The June Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, which was conducted before Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday, shows majorities of U.S. adults think the government and corporations have a significant responsibility to address climate change. The new law will invest nearly $375 billion in climate strategies over the next decade.
Overall, 35% of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the impact of climate change on them personally, down from 44% in August 2019. Another third say they are somewhat concerned. Only about half say their actions have an effect on climate change, compared with two-thirds in 2019.
…
Many climate scientists told The Associated Press that the shifts are concerning but not surprising given that individuals are feeling overwhelmed by a range of issues, now including an economy plagued by inflation after more than two years of a pandemic. In addition to being outpaced by other issues, climate change or the environment are mentioned as priorities by fewer Americans now than just a few years ago, according to the poll.
…
While the climate crisis will require an “all of the above approach,” it’s “reasonable” that individuals don’t feel they have the bandwidth to tackle climate action “on top of everything else,” said Kim Cobb, director of the Institute at Brown University for Environment and Society.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/inflation-science-technology-climate-and-environment-9038738cbda161f43e5d0d2fbd5e738b
I believe there is a simpler explanation for this fall in concern – the exaggerated Covid panic has damaged public faith in our institutions. People are less ready to believe other exaggerated scare stories. Look how flat the Monkeypox scare has fallen.
And people really do have a lot more real issues to worry about lately, like out of control inflation, gasoline prices, war in Ukraine, and simmering tensions in the South China Sea.
The June Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, which was conducted before Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday, shows majorities of U.S. adults think the government and corporations have a significant responsibility to address climate change.
Yep that’s the Gummint’s and Biz’s job to fix the climate and give us cheap renewable energy so the price of everything falls or at least stops rising. Isn’t that the way it works like we’ve been told?
From global warming to climate change to now “climate crisis” . So I am wondering what the next level of alarm beyond “climate crisis” will be. At some point the exaggerations lose their punch so require a verbal jump-start to scare voters into supporting moronic policies.
The fundamental problem is we’re not on the same planet as the climate changers-
‘Plucking words at random’ makes more sense than ‘anything’ Kamala Harris says (msn.com)
It’s the vibe man.
But “… out of control inflation, gasoline prices, war in Ukraine, and simmering tensions in the South China Sea …”, plus monkeypox, are all caused by fossil-fuel burning. (Di I need a \sarc?)
If you’re addressing Griff or Nick Stokes, then yes.
Well of course they aren’t…
They just add more misery to the impact of climate change – i.e. drought, fire, flood and storm; famine and population displacement.
Ain’t life wonderful?
griff are you sure you’re not James Dyke , Associate Professor at Exeter University latest book ‘Fire,Storm and Flood:The violence of climate change’?
When everything is crisis, nothing is.
The drought in Europe is apparently the worst since soon after WW2 but also a once in 500 years event?
Which one sounds scarier? Let’s go with that.
There’s a 1 in 500 chance of a 1 in 500 year event *every* year. And it’s the worse *since* soon after WWII then that would indicate a worse drought then. BEFORE any SUPPOSED ‘effects’ of CO2 ’emissions’ would have taken hold.
So nothing ‘new’ or “unprecedented” about it, aka WEATHER, not “climate.”
I think once the IPCC keynoted an autistic 12-year-old girl, people began to have too much of the BS. And 8 years of no trend in temperature has to matter, as well as the disasters in other places that have taken insane actions like banning ICE cars. I love how they ask the climate scientists about public opinion, as if propaganda is their job (it is).
Autistic or fetal alcohol syndrome? The mother reportedly likes her cocktails a lot.
A key requirement for us to solve our leadership crisis (people in leadership roils with minimal leaderships skills, critical thinking, or objectivity) is the requirement for individuals to mistrust authority and expertise. If you simply trust authority then whoever is in power will stay in power indefinitely no matter how bad the results. If you trust expertise you will quickly discover that a large group of experts have diametrically opposed views of how things work. Clearly we all need a way to decide when authority is working in our best interest and when not, and to discover among a herd of “experts” who has actually discovered the truth about how our world works and who is mistaken. Mistrust is also the foundation of science – skepticism is as desirable a human trait as civility, intelligence and initiative.
It is heart warming to see an increasing proportion of the public deciding that the most vocal pundits of doom are not to be believed.
They should “survey” regarding how many people are concerned about the economic destruction being done to implement ‘climate POLICY.”
I’d only take them seriously if they do something about glyphosate and 5G affecting the climate
The enthusiasm of the fine climate words has been damped by the reality of resource shortages, inflation and poverty. They said what they were going to do to reach net-zero. No one paid attention until they started doing it. No doubt the true believers will double down and say we just need more, stronger action and it will be better next time.
I remember, Mr Monckton, was full on for lockdown back in the day – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/18/lockdown-effects-feared-killing-people-covid/