Failure to Address Energy Anxiety Could Derail Global Warming Policies, Survey Finds

According to a new survey on global warming released by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Breakthrough Institute people are more concerned about the price of gas and electricity than they are about global warming. However, it also found support for climate-change solutions that are centered on achieving energy independence, reducing the cost of clean energy, and creating new jobs.

The Nathan Cummings Foundation Global Warming Survey (41 pages, PDF) found that global warming continues to rank low as a priority for Americans, who continue to be extremely anxious about energy costs. Moreover, messages about the potential catastrophic effects of global warming do not increase support for government action. Of the major global warming policy proposals that have been advanced, investment in clean technology is the most popular. The survey followed a review of public opinion on energy and global warming released earlier this summer, which found that voters consistently rate energy costs as a higher concern than global warming and resist policies that would increase the cost of electricity and gasoline. The latest survey confirmed the earlier analysis, with global warming ranked last among the sixteen issues tested.

The survey also divided the sample to observe the effects of various "psychological primes" on global warming public opinion, including using specific consequences of global warming expressed by the environmental community, such as the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Telling voters about these consequences did not increase their desire to take action on global warming.

While voters expressed initial support for a variety of potential government actions — with support for an "Apollo-type" investment strategy scoring the highest, referring to the 1960s program that placed man on the moon — when told of the potential of such programs, support dropped precipitiously. Only the Apollo-type investment proposal retained support from a majority of voters.

"This poll demonstrates that getting the policy right means getting the politics right," said Lance Lindblom, president of the Cummings Foundation. "Elegant policy prescriptions that cannot generate the political support necessary won't do anything to effectively address the challenges of global climate change."
“New Poll Finds Hurdles, Opportunity on Global Warming.” Nathan Cummings Foundation Press Release 9/26/07.