Trump Tests Climate Change Denial Against Public Opinion, Real-World Impacts

[applegrove]

Trump Tests Climate Change Denial Against Public Opinion, Real-World Impacts

By Greg Dotson and Erin Auel at Think Progress

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-climate-change-denial-public-opinion-impacts-3e096afd1264

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While there may be little question about which presidential candidate states like Texas and California will support, Trump’s climate denial is at odds with public opinion in the swing states that will decide the outcome of the election. In Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, at least 75 percent of surveyed adults support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Over 60 percent of respondents in those same states said that global warming will harm future generations.

In the swing state of Florida, the disconnect between Mr. Trump’s view and public opinion is particularly pronounced. According to analysis from the Center for American Progress, since 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has spent more than $2.2 billion in Florida due to hurricanes. With the number of severe hurricanes increasing and the increasing frequency of severe hurricanes attributed in part to climate change, this issue appears to resonate within the state. In a major increase from the past, polling from earlier this year show that more than 80 percent of residents of peninsular Florida are concerned about climate change and more than 60 percent of Floridians believe the federal government is responsible for dealing with climate change.

The weight voters give climate change in the 2016 election remains to be seen, but with serious climate impacts occurring throughout the country and increasing public concern about the issue, the political landscape may be changing quickly. When surveyed in 2014, just 31 percent of Louisiana adults thought climate change would harm them personally. Will the devastation in Baton Rouge and elsewhere in Southern Louisiana affect public opinion in the state? And if so, will Louisianans expect a response from its political leaders on the issue? The answers to these questions may point to the future of climate change as a political issue.

Unlike other aspects of his campaign, Mr. Trump has followed a conventional right-leaning approach to handling climate change in a campaign — appeal to the conventional fossil-based energy industry while ignoring the serious economic consequences and harm to human health that climate change poses. This approach is out of step with the voters in states he must win if he hopes to prevail in the November election. As the public continues to better understand the seriousness of climate change, especially in swing states and potentially even in states as red as Louisiana, the viability of this strategy could decline even further.



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[CajunBlazer]

1. K&R

[longship]

2. Science denial should be a prominent issue!

Sadly, like always, it isn't.

Climate change denial!
Biology/Evolution denial!
Vaccine denial!
Etc.

Science Debate

[politicaljunkie41910]

3. As Hurrican Hermine was approaching Florida, I noticed that every newsreporter was reporting that

Florida hadn't had a direct hit from a hurricane in 11 years. My thought was, so what is your point? Tell that to Houston TX which has seen massive flooding from several storms just this past year. Tell that to New Orleans who was hit by Hurricane Katrina, and Baton Rouge which saw massive flooding recently, and New Jersey which was struck by Hurricane Sandy. The point is that the climate is changing and the storms warming of the earth surface is resulting in extreme changes in the atmosphere, the oceans, and the Arctic circle. It's a bell we won't be able to unring if we allow this to continue.