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Majority of Americans want local action on global warming, says poll
October 04, 2007New Haven, Conn. - Nearly three-quarters of Americans are willing to pay more in taxes and other expenses to support local government-led initiatives designed to reduce global warming, according to a first-of-its kind survey conducted by GfK Public Affairs and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
"City and local leaders are critical players in the effort to reduce global warming, and it's clear that their constituents want action," said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale Project on Climate Change, one of the sponsors of the groundbreaking survey measuring public opinion of local government-led green initiatives. "The public is on board and willing to help foot the bill. All that's left to do now is act."
According to the survey, 74 percent of Americans would support local regulations requiring all newly constructed homes to be more energy efficient, even if it would increase the initial cost of a new home by roughly $7,500.
Seventy-two percent said they would support local subsidies encouraging homeowners to install electricity-generating solar panels on existing homes, even if it would cost households an extra $5 per month in increased property taxes, because of the potential savings in energy and money on utility bills.
The survey also found that:
* 71 percent would pay $5 a month more in property taxes in support of a local subsidy to encourage homeowners to replace old furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners, light bulbs and insulation.
* 69 percent would pay $8.50 more a month for local regulations requiring electric utilities to produce at least 20 percent of their electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.
* 68 percent would approve changing their city or town zoning rules to decrease suburban sprawl and concentrate new development near the town center.
* 65 percent would support changing their city or town zoning rules to require neighborhoods to have a mix of housing, offices, industry, schools and stores close together.
* 53 percent would back city or local fees added to electricity bills to encourage people to use less electricity.
However, 57 percent of Americans oppose changing city zoning rules to promote construction of apartments rather than single-family homes, and 64 percent oppose charging a 10-cent city or local fee on each gallon of gas to encourage people to use less fuel.
Findings in this report were culled from two national telephone surveys of Americans, ages 18 and over, conducted from September 21 to 23 (1,004) and September 28-30, 2007 (1,005) as part of GfK Roper's weekly OMNITEL telephone omnibus service. The participants were drawn from random digit dialing (RDD) probability samples of all telephone households in the continental United States. The data were weighted to match national norms of the Current Population Survey on sex, age, region, and education. The final sample is considered to be representative of U.S. adults nationwide, with a margin of error of ±/- 3 percentage points.
Yale University
Seventy-two percent said they would support local subsidies encouraging homeowners to install electricity-generating solar panels on existing homes, even if it would cost households an extra $5 per month in increased property taxes, because of the potential savings in energy and money on utility bills.
The survey also found that:
* 71 percent would pay $5 a month more in property taxes in support of a local subsidy to encourage homeowners to replace old furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners, light bulbs and insulation.
* 69 percent would pay $8.50 more a month for local regulations requiring electric utilities to produce at least 20 percent of their electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.
* 68 percent would approve changing their city or town zoning rules to decrease suburban sprawl and concentrate new development near the town center.
* 65 percent would support changing their city or town zoning rules to require neighborhoods to have a mix of housing, offices, industry, schools and stores close together.
* 53 percent would back city or local fees added to electricity bills to encourage people to use less electricity.
However, 57 percent of Americans oppose changing city zoning rules to promote construction of apartments rather than single-family homes, and 64 percent oppose charging a 10-cent city or local fee on each gallon of gas to encourage people to use less fuel.
Findings in this report were culled from two national telephone surveys of Americans, ages 18 and over, conducted from September 21 to 23 (1,004) and September 28-30, 2007 (1,005) as part of GfK Roper's weekly OMNITEL telephone omnibus service. The participants were drawn from random digit dialing (RDD) probability samples of all telephone households in the continental United States. The data were weighted to match national norms of the Current Population Survey on sex, age, region, and education. The final sample is considered to be representative of U.S. adults nationwide, with a margin of error of ±/- 3 percentage points.
Yale University
Global Warming Current Events and Global Warming News RSSGas from the past gives scientists new insights into climate and the oceans
In recent years, public discussion of climate change has included concerns that increased levels of carbon dioxide will contribute to global warming, which in turn may change the circulation in the earth's oceans, with potentially disastrous consequences.
Researchers document world's mammals in crisis
From majestic African elephants to tiny and often unappreciated rodents, mammals on Earth are in a state of crisis. One in four mammal species on Earth is being pushed to extinction, according to the Global Mammal Assessment, the most comprehensive assessment of the world's mammals.
Are we trading energy conservation for toxic air emissions?
A team of Yale scientists has found that certain countries and some U.S. states stand to benefit from the use of compact fluorescent lighting more than others in the fight against global warming. Some places may even produce more mercury emissions by switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lighting.
Scientist proposes explanation for puzzling property of night-shining clouds at the edge of space
An explanation for a strange property of noctilucent clouds--thin, wispy clouds hovering at the edge of space at 85 km altitude--has been proposed by an experimental plasma physicist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), possibly laying to rest a decades-long mystery.
Researchers find animal with ability to survive climate change
Queen's researchers have found that the main source of food for many fish - including cod - in the North Atlantic appears to adapt in order to survive climate change.
IMPACTS: On the Threshold of Abrupt Climate Changes
Abrupt climate change is a potential menace that hasn't received much attention. That's about to change. Through its Climate Change Prediction Program, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) recently launched IMPACTS - Investigation of the Magnitudes and Probabilities of Abrupt Climate Transitions - a program led by William Collins of Berkeley Lab's Earth Sciences Division (ESD) that brings together six national laboratories to attack the problem of abrupt climate change, or ACC.
Scientists working to protect NI from Bird Flu
Queen's scientists are involved in two international projects aimed to protect Northern Ireland's agri-food industry from Bird Flu and African Swine Fever, a disease which kills pigs.
Curbing coal emissions alone might avert climate danger, say researchers
An ongoing rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels might be kept below harmful levels if emissions from coal are phased out within the next few decades, say researchers.
Luck gave dinosaurs their edge
T. rex and Triceratops: In the popular imagination, dinosaurs are extraordinary reptiles that ruled the world for over 160 million years. But Steve Brusatte, a doctoral student at Columbia University who is an affiliate of the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues are challenging this idea with new fossil data and math.
Brown-led research team proposes new link to tropical African climate
he Lake Tanganyika area, in southeast Africa, is home to nearly 130 million people living in four countries that bound the lake, the second deepest on Earth. Scientists have known that the region experiences dramatic wet and dry spells, and that rainfall profoundly affects the area's people, who depend on it for agriculture, drinking water and hydroelectric power.
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