Skip to content Skip to footer
|

Sorry, Tea Party: Conservatives Don’t Agree With You on Climate Change

A new report details how climate change denial is large strategy in conservative circles like that of the Tea Party.

Joe Barton of Texas and Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma may label climate change as a “hoax,” but the people of Texas and Oklahoma believe that climate change is real and that the government should step in to limit greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research revealed earlier this month.

The research, by Stanford University social psychologist Jon Krosnick, questions the conventional wisdom of climate denial as a central pillar of Republican politics, and especially for Tea Party conservatives.

Looking at data collected from almost 20,000 people between 2006 and 2013, Krosnick found that even in the reddest of Republican states, a majority of people believe climate change is real. He presented his findings to the congressional Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change in Washington, D.C.

Despite the common perception that opinions vary across different parts of the country, survey data analyzed by Krosnick at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment establishes that most Americans are in agreement with the scientific consensus on global warming.

When asked, “What is your personal opinion? Do you think that the world’s temperature probably has been going up over the past 100 years, or do you think this probably has not been happening?” the vast majority of Americans confirmed that, yes, it’s been getting hotter.

That’s because they’ve experienced it that way. Krosnick said the findings suggest personal experiences of hot weather, especially in warm states in the southwest, persuaded Texans and others that the climate was indeed changing within their own lifetimes.

That’s right, even in such reliably red states as Texas and Oklahoma, there is far-reaching acceptance that climate change is indeed occurring and is caused by human activities.

“To me, the most striking finding that is new today was that we could not find a single state in the country where climate scepticism was in the majority,” Krosnick said in an interview.

It’s not surprising that states that voted for President Obama believe climate change is occurring and support curbs on carbon pollution. Some 88 percent of Massachusetts residents believe climate change is real.

But Texas and Oklahoma are among the reddest of red states and are represented in Congress by Republicans who regularly dismiss the existence of climate change.

Even more convincing, the research indicated substantial support for Obama’s decision to use the Environmental Protection Agency to cut emissions from power plants. The polling found that at least 62 percent of Americans were in favor of action cutting greenhouse gas emissions from plants.

Henry Waxman, the Democrat who co-chairs the taskforce on climate change, said in a statement that the findings showed Americans were ready to take action to cut emissions that cause climate change.

“This new report is crystal clear,” said Waxman. “It shows that the vast majority of Americans – whether from red states or blue – understand that climate change is a growing danger. Americans recognize that we have a moral obligation to protect the environment and an economic opportunity to develop the clean energy technologies of the future. Americans are way ahead of Congress in listening to the scientists.”

Some 58 percent of Republicans in the current Congress deny the existence of climate change or oppose action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress.

Apparently politicians in the U.S. are out of touch with the people they represent.

We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.

As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.

Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.

As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.

At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.

Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.

You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.