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https://freedium.cfd/https://medium.com/the-new-climate/the-next-climate-perception-battle-5f770a204548>
'Every couple of years, researchers at Yale University poll Americans about
their perceptions of climate change. They just released their latest survey
results, and the numbers show that we have passed from one phase of the climate
change fight into a new one.
For decades, the big task before climate activists was to convince their fellow
Americans of a few things:
* Climate change is real;
* Climate change will be harmful; and
* We should act to minimize it.
For a long time, a significant percentage of Americans believed that there was
no such thing as climate change. In fact, one of the country's two major
political parties — along with many of its voters — was committed to this view.
But now, the survey results indicate, most Americans accept that climate change
is real, bad, and worth fighting:
* 72% of Americans think "global warming is happening."
* 58% think that it is "caused mostly by human activities."
* 74% think that government should regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
* 68% think that fossil fuel companies should have to pay a carbon tax.
Now, it would be nice if these numbers were closer to 100%, but we have to
remember that this is America, and there aren't many things we all agree on,
even if they are plainly true.
After all, this is a country where, in 2021, 34% of respondents believed that
"elites, from government and Hollywood, are engaged in a massive child sex
trafficking racket;" 17% believed that "the government adds secret
mind-controlling technology to television broadcast signals;" and 26% agreed
that "a powerful family, the Rothschilds, through their wealth, controls
governments, wars, and many countries' economies."
So, honestly, getting 72% of us to say that global warming is real is pretty
good. It seems that we have moved out of the period where it's necessary to
convince people of the science of climate change. This is a significant
success, even though it took longer than it should have due to persistent
misinformation from political and corporate sources.
But there's still some distance to go. Americans may agree that climate change
is real and bad, but they seem not to be interested in doing much about it. If
they're going to agree to meaningfully combat climate change, Americans need to
believe that climate change is important, addressable, and nonpartisan.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
