Americans Don’t Care That Much About the Environment, Poll Shows

[tflaris]

Americans concerns near record lows

Americans care less about environmental issues now than they have in the past—and they’re no more worried about global warming than they were decades ago, a new poll shows.

The Gallup survey released on Wednesday shows Americans were more concerned about the environment in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but interested dropped off in the early 2000s. Since then it’s remained close to historic lows. And when it comes to global warming specifically, Americans are no more worried now than they were in 1989.

In the recent survey, which questioned 1,025 U.S. adults in early March, Americans reported feeling the most concerned about drinking polluted water and least worried about global warming. In 1989, 35% of the men and women surveyed said they cared a great deal about climate change, but only 32% said the same thing in 2015. Even when it came to polluted water, just 55% of Americans reported caring a great deal, down from 65% in 1990.

Gallup notes that the state of the economy could play a roll in how concerned Americans are about the environment. Americans tend to give environmental concerns a higher priority when the economy is doing well, Gallup says.

See link for video:
http://time.com/3758465/americans-do...xid=emailshare


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed that is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

[MarkR]

Just a couple thoughts on this..

Past Predictions made did not seem credible, in retrospect.. So the average guy has to wonder when the "Experts" say to trust the new research.

Five years ago at a UN Conference on Climate Change, Al Gore predicted that, global warming having reached such an unbridled pitch, the North Pole might be completely ice-free during the summer of 2014.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/e...ve-wrong-again


Another point...

I don't think a population can maintain a constant state of fear (or alert) for too long. You just cant keep stressed out about this stuff indefinately. As a society, we really suffer from (or are blessed by) large scale ADD.

Add to that the gradual redefinition over the years. 70's-80's we were hearing about the depletion of the ozone, a possible ice age. Then global warming, now redefined as climate change. Ok.. Not saying there is not an issue. Or that improved stewardship and resource conservation should not be a priority. I am just saying that this survey does not surprise me.

Also.. ~1,000 people is not a very strong sample. I would be interested to look into how they selected folks to be surveyed. Lots of things play into this. Even time of year, week,day time might play into how folks feel about this.

..just my $0.02