U.Va. poll: Most say global warming is real and they want government to deal with it

By: MELODIE N. MARTIN TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER | Times-Dispatch
Published: December 12, 2008

Virginians and most other Americans believe global warming is a real and serious problem, a poll says, and they want local, state and federal governments to do something about it.

They're split, however, on what should be done.

Those results from national and state-level polls measuring public attitudes on climate change were released today during the National Conference on Climate Governance at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

"The public believes all levels of government should be involved or are responsible for this," said Christopher Borick, co-author of the report. "They support regulatory options but strongly oppose tax-based approaches."

About seven out of 10 Americans believe climate change exists, which carried across most demographic divides such as education, gender and race, Borick said. But one area of difference was partisan affiliation, he said.

For instance, when asked whether global warming requires immediate government action, 49 percent of Republicans, 83 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of independents answered yes.

The survey and other papers presented at the academic conference, which concludes Friday, will be published in a report that will be provided to the new presidential administration and Congress to help guide their policy decisions, said former Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, the Miller Center's director.

"Across this country for many years, there has been a debate about the science of climate change. There have been a lot of conferences about the politics of it. What has been not discussed very much is the governance," Baliles said. "If Congress is going to do something, if the states are going to undertake action on their own, if this country is to reconnect with the rest of the world, how shall it be done?"

Borick, director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., and Barry Rabe, Miller Center visiting scholar from the University of Michigan, drew their report from the results of a telephone survey of United States residents ages 18 and older conducted in September. In addition to a national sample of 603 Americans, samples of at least 300 residents were conducted in four states: California, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Mississippi. Contact Melodie N. Martin at (804) 649-6290 or mmartin@timesdispatch.com.