Poll: Majority see impact of global warming

In a new poll conducted for USA Today, a majority say they have seen the impact of global warming.

Roughly 71 percent of U.S. adults say they see the effects of global warming. Twenty-eight percent say it made the damage wrought by Superstorm Sandy last year "much worse," while 41 percent say it had no effect on the storm.

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Additionally, three in five people respond that global warming is serious and want the U.S. to do something about it. Two of three, or 67 percent, say it will hurt future generations a "great deal" if no action is taken to mitigate climate change.

But fewer and fewer people support government regulations in recent years, according to the poll of 801 U.S. adults conducted by USA Today with Stanford Universiy and Resources for the Future, a nonpartisan group.

"It seems obvious" the globe is warming, said survey participant Ken Anderson, 30, a database administrator in West Valley, Utah.

"It will be more of a concern for my children and my children's children," Anderson added.

Still, only a slight majority back President Obama's new carbon emissions limits on power plants — 55 percent. And 21 percent say coal is a "good" source for electricity.

A greater majority believe the U.S. should take steps soon to prepare for global warming, even while other nations don't. Less than half — 44 percent — say implementing policies that help mitigate climate change will boost the economy. 

 

©2013 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/193737-poll-majority-see-impacts-of-global-warming