Yet more green thoughts

Listening to a pilot episode of a new NPR show currently referred to as The Bryant Park Project, I caught part of an interview with Sharon Begley, Newsweek‘s science writer and author of its cover story about global warming denial and the “machine” perpetuating the idea that it’s no big deal or that scientists aren’t sure about it, etc. She mentioned a couple of poll stats that made me go to the story. Here’s one:

39 percent of those asked say there is “a lot of disagreement among climate scientists” on the basic question of whether the planet is warming; 42 percent say there is a lot of disagreement that human activities are a major cause of global warming. Only 46 percent say the greenhouse effect is being felt today.

The good news, I suppose, is that the influence of the “denial machine” is waning, in that polls taken just last year found that those who think there’s a lot of disagreement was 64 percent. So that view has gone from a majority view, to a minority one. The article also says that “38 percent of those surveyed identified climate change as the nation’s gravest environmental threat, three times the number in 2000.”

It does seem troubling that significant swaths of people seem unsure about the link between human behavior and activities and global warming. But presumably it explains this:

Look for the next round of debate to center on what Americans are willing to pay and do to stave off the worst of global warming. So far the answer seems to be, not much. The NEWSWEEK Poll finds less than half in favor of requiring high-mileage cars or energy-efficient appliances and buildings.