A new poll commissioned by the American Security Project (ASP) recently revealed that Americans believe that climate change is real, is caused by humans, and constitutes a serious threat to both our economy and our national security. The poll was done by the Mellman Group and represents the findings of a national survey of 800 registered voters. The poll was conducted by telephone August 1-4, 2009 using random digit dialing, and the margin of error for the survey is +/-3.5% at the 95% level of confidence.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of those polled believed global warming/climate change posed a serious economic threat, and 55% said that global warming/climate change was a serious threat to national security. In addition, when respondents were read two paragraphs-one focused on the need to take action to prevent climate change because of the global destabilization that will result, and the other which argued that efforts to reduce climate change are really just hidden taxes and will cost America jobs, the national security-themed message had clear appeal. A majority (55%) said that the national security-themed paragraph was closer to their point of view compared to only a third (34%) who sided with the paragraph that opposes action.
Click here for the full report.