Global warming links U.S. Democrats, Independents, and isolates Romney

By Mark Drajem
30 September 2012 Democrats and independent voters overwhelmingly accept the scientific evidence that human activity is warming the earth’s temperature, while almost two out of three Republicans don’t. Among likely voters, 78 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents believe humans are warming the earth, according to a Bloomberg National Poll. That finding is consistent with other polls that show undecided voters, and majorities in contested states such as Ohio and Virginia are in line with President Barack Obama and most Democratic candidates in wanting to address the issue. “Taking a pro-climate stance is a political winner, especially for Democrats,” Edward Maibach, director for the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, said in an interview. “It’s not the most important issue” for most undecided voters, but “it’s somewhere in their lexicon of issues.” Carbon-dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution have led to a warming of the earth’s temperature over the past 50 years, threatening to cause extreme weather, drought and coastal flooding, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. A drought affected two-thirds of the lower 48 U.S. states this month, one of the worst such dry spells on record, and temperatures there for the first eight months of the year were the warmest since records were first kept in 1895, according to government data. Pollsters had already recorded a spurt in acceptance of global warming following the hot, dry weather in the U.S. this year, and the Bloomberg Poll found views fairly consistent across income levels, geography, education attainment, and sex. There is one key division: political party. And that is reflected in the positions of each presidential candidate this year. […] Obama, who has faced criticism from environmental groups for not doing enough to cut emissions, said at the Democratic National Party convention that “climate change is not a hoax. More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. They’re a threat to our children’s future.” Romney is in accord with most Republicans, not with most voters. Overall, 55 percent of likely voters polled by Bloomberg said warming is happening because of human activity. Thirty-six percent disagreed with that statement. Among Republicans only 26 percent agreed, while 64 percent disagreed. The Bloomberg telephone survey of 789 likely voters was conducted Sept. 21-24 by Selzer & Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. “One problem for Republicans is that they are painting themselves into a climate-change corner,” Daniel J. Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a self-described progressive group with ties to the Democratic Party, said in an interview. “The race for the White House is going to be won in the middle, and Romney is establishing a wedge between himself and independent voters” on this issue, he said. […]

Global Warming Links Democrats, Independents Isolating Romney