By James Wallace Harris, Friday, March 18, 2016
64% of Americans say they worry about global warming in a March 16th Gallup poll. That’s an eight year high, and up from 55% in 2015. 59% now think global warming has already begun, as oppose to 31% thinking it will happen, and 10% who think it will never happen. 41% of those polled now believe global warming is a serious threat in our lifetime, and 65% believe humans are the cause. Even Republicans are worried (40%), believing global warming has already begun (40%), will be a serious threat in our lifetime (20%) and is due to people (38%). But their worry hasn’t grown as fast as Democrats. 84% of liberals fear global warming, 77% think its begun, 58% think it’s a serious threat in our lifetime, and 85% think we’re to blame. See Gallup site for changes in opinions over time.
With a clear majority of Americans worrying about global warming, even believing we’re the cause of our problems, you’d think we’d want to fix things before they got worse. On the same day as the Gallup poll, Business Insider published “the energy plans of the top 4 presidential candidates.” The Democrats want to save the planet, but the Republicans continue full-speed ahead to use Earth up. (Sarah Palin’s “Drill, Baby, Drill” is still their rallying cry.)
I understand why the Republicans want to ignore global warming. Trillions of dollars are in the ground and the plutocrats who own those resources don’t want to give up that wealth. But what about the rich people who own South Florida, Manhattan, or living along the coasts of our nation? Digging up one rich guy’s treasure, means sinking somebody else’s fortune.
New projections estimate between 4.3 and 13.1 million Americans could end up climate refugees before the end of the century. Miami is already sinking, even though Marco Rubio stood in his home state and blatantly made all kinds of silly denials. Was Rubio the first Republican to be victim of his party’s stance against global warming? Could he have carried Florida if he hadn’t said such asinine lies of self-interest? Who knows.
The GOP lost it’s presidential bid in 2012 because they didn’t foresee rising diversity in the U.S. They’ve spent the last four years fighting immigration and gerrymandering. Many states even tried to bar African-Americans from voting. But what if they’ve built another Maginot Line?
What if beliefs in climate change foils the GOP in 2016? Should they be thinking, “It’s the climate, stupid!” The GOP is making the choice quite clear—vote for Republicans and we’ll keep doing what we’ve always been doing.
And I could link to thousands of articles about how we’re screwing over the Earth, but I don’t think I need to. Everyone knows already, even the conservatives. You don’t need to be a liberal to know which way the wind is blowing.
JWH
Auxiliary Memory 
A vote for the GOP is a vote against humanity, in all its various shapes, forms, cultures, languages, beliefs, hopes . . .
Then I have a book for you Fred, Dark Money by Jane Mayer.
James,
OK, thanks for the recommendation.
Jim, 57% of Republicans still don’t believe in evolution. (And half of those who do accept it think that it was guided by ‘God,’ which kind of misses the whole idea.)
Why don’t plutocrats accept global warming, when they have something to lose? Well, insurance companies do accept it, because it’s a threat to them. It’s not a threat to wealthy old people who are focused entirely on the short-term, not the long-term, and who continue to make a great deal of money by preserving the status quo.
And look at the stock market. Wealthy investors (using “investor” rather loosely) typically continue buying stocks even when they recognize that prices are too high to be sustainable. They simply expect to unload those stocks before prices collapse. Of course, they can’t all do that. But that’s usually the plan. As long as they’re making money, they expect to be able to get through that narrow door before everyone else, once everyone sees that the building has caught on fire.
And finally, Republicans are faith-based, not evidence-based. Once you start believing just because you want to believe, where do you stop? They want to believe they’re going to heaven. They want to believe that tax cuts are the solution to every economic problem. And they want to believe that global warming is just a plot by liberals. Why would you expect them to accept reality when it comes to one issue, when they don’t for every other issue?
Nice post, BTW – as usual. I don’t normally comment, since I read your posts in my email. But I thought I’d make an exception today. 🙂
Glad you made an exception. I read your posts by email too, which does tend to keep me from replying at the site too.
Maybe the Gallup poll numbers reflect that Republicans are starting to accept the evidence of climate change.
A great scifi writer defined a fascist as, “one who believes he is so superior that others should keep quiet and be disappeared”. Now that the attorney general has let it be known that wrong-think inquiry can be criminalized, I want everyone to know that I believe everything Auxiliary Memory has ever said. You are so wonderful James. So wise. If everyone was more like you it would be Utopia.
Billy Pilgrim
Billy I don’t mind your sarcastic ad hominem attack, I really don’t. I expect people to disagree with me. But it would be helpful if you dealt with the issues so we can explore them in more detail. I make essentially three assertions in this essay:
1. Republicans deny global warming and refuse to work on the problem. This is well known and well documented in the news.
2. Republicans deny global warming because to deal with the problem will require more taxes, more government regulation and constituents will lose wealth as oil, gas and oil are left in the ground. Nothing new here either.
3. Republicans hoped to make global warming a non-issue and I’m asking because of the Gallup poll that they might be surprised if it’s not. I’m just wondering could global warming become a surprise issue in 2016.
All I’m saying in this essay is global warming is clearly defined by our two political parties. If you’re concerned with global warming you only have one party to choose from. Republicans by refusing to deal with the issue has made it a binary decision. Do you deny that Billy?
You betcha, Jim! I’ve got Dark Money on my wish list and it just might come up next.
You’re right. I apologize.
Democrats and taxes will save the earth.
Every thing’s fine in Detroit and D.C.
Half the country wants to poison the air and water, cook the sky, enslave the darkies and bomb the muzzies. You know figured it out.
But some days you and I can see the future, even if we can’t predict the weather. Clinton’s about to be indicted and Republicans have fired their leaders. What we can’t see is where this will take us. Your side could actually bring in socialism, the greatest death cult in history. Republicans still (again) offer nothing. The voters don’t believe anyone on the Sunday talk shows, least of all Debbie something hyphen something, or that aptly named douche bag, Rinse Penis. But we can believe Jim Harris, because he quoted the “worst-case scenario of a recent study…” And the Justice Department will deal with any study that disagrees.
It’s a very revolutionary place, America. As surveys and studies and social media pretend to be Accepted Science, liberal fascism’s colliding with fists and it’s not even round one. Obama said, “If they bring a knife, we’ll bring a gun.” I’m saying the voters are about to bring a flamethrower to a stick fight, and you’re stuck in nonsensical name calling.
Billy Pilgrim
I agree that many voters are tired of Washington. But would Trump or Sanders really do anything different?
Billy, you’re always claiming I’m depressed, I think we need to worry about you.
I don’t have much hope, but I don’t think I’m as pessimistic as you. I think we know how to solve our problems, but will probably choose not to do what’s needed. I get the feeling you don’t think we have a chance.
“Global Warming” began at the end of the last major ice age. Just as it has after EVERY major ice age. The temps WILL climb to an average of 22C just like it has REPEATEDLY in the past after major ice ages.
Why do you think that after the last major ice age, that would CHANGE and the Earth would NOT warn back to 22C?
Any logical answers to that question?