Survey: Only 13 Percent Of Congressional GOP Believe Global Warming is Man-Made
On the same day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reaches compromise to create a special committee on climate change, a new poll shows very few congressional Republicans believe global warming is exacerbated by humans.
The National Journal surveyed 113 members of Congress—10 Senate Democrats, 48 House Democrats, 10 Senate Republicans, and 45 House Republicans.
Despite overwhelming scientific evidence, only 13 percent of congressional Republicans "believe that human activity is causing global warming, compared to 95 percent of congressional Democrats. Moreover, the number of Republicans who believe in human-induced global warming has actually dropped since April 2006."
Detailed results HERE.
Pelosi Settles Battle Over Climate Panel (AP)
Did You Read ... ?
Global Warming "Very Likely" Caused By Humans, Will Continue (Rod 2.0) Gore Nominated for Nobel Prize (Rod 2.0) White House Pressures Scientists (Rod 2.0) News: Polar Bears, John Edwards (Rod 2.0) News: DADT, Far-Right Christians (Rod 2.0)
And the chief apooogist is that obnoxious James Inhofe from oklahoma. Thank the Almight that he is no longer chairting the Energy Committee.
Posted by: scott | 06 February 2007 at 20:37
Wasn't Inhofe the one who stood on the senate floor and said that there were no homosexuals in he or his wife's family?
Posted by: ca | 06 February 2007 at 20:45
(slap forehead) sigh.
Posted by: Andy in Seattle | 06 February 2007 at 21:26
Obviously Inhofe wasn't counting himself. Let me be quiet. He's probably the BF of that poor queen who attacks every global warming post.
Come out, senator, its wonderful out of the closet!!!!!
Posted by: greg g | 06 February 2007 at 21:40
Republicans are just insane.. its a form of deliusion.. if you convice yourself something is real.. then its real if you convince yourself something is true then its true.. Unfortunatley they are fucking with everyones liveley hood if they dont smarten up (which I doubt) mark my words the streets will storm the white house!
Posted by: Supreme Being | 07 February 2007 at 00:04
The same percentage would probably express serious doubts about evolution and consider intelligent design to be a viable alternative theory
Posted by: DFS | 07 February 2007 at 12:54
either they are crazy... or just too dumb to read the question correctly.
Posted by: C. Baptiste-Williams | 07 February 2007 at 14:16
I'm not a Republican or one of their apologists, and I certainly believe in global warming.... Still, the poll sampled 55 out of the 251 Republicans currently in Congress and gives no indication that this was a random sample or explication of why these 55 Republicans were selected instead of others. The percentage of Congressional Reps that believe in global warming could be higher, or MUCH lower than 13 percent.
Posted by: atreyu | 07 February 2007 at 14:53
You're being an apologist.
A 20 PERCENT SAMPLE is fairly accurate, no? That's more or less like polling 20 PERCENT of the likely registered voters--MANY MILLIONS of PEOPLE--and asking them who will they vote for president. But CNN, gallup and Wall Street Journal don't poll several million people every week, do they?
BTW, a similar percentage of Democrats were polled. Why not question their validity?
Posted by: Joshua R | 07 February 2007 at 15:07
I actually question the reliability of the entire poll, not just the results that pertain to the Republicans. 20 percent is perfectly fine, if the respondents are randomly selected. Following the latest IPCC report that once again affirms climate change is human induced it just seems that the "13 percent" is being bandied about as spin. Polls like these don't do much to advance discussion with the people that still refuse to recognize what humans are doing to the planet. Ridiculing people isn't going to change their minds. It's also a bit manipulative to state that the percentage of congressional Republicans that believe in global warming has dropped without noting that the pool has changed since it was last surveyed, as many of the Reps were tossed out in the November elections. Of course this is all clear for people who bother to read the actaul survey & its results, but many will stop at the headline.
Posted by: atreyu | 07 February 2007 at 22:12
So it's Rod's fault if someone stops at the headline? LOL He linked twice to the full survey. Grow up.
"The National Journal" is one of the most respected political journals in the country. I think annual subscriptions are like $500 or $600 to individuals. It's only read by policy makers, politicians and serious types.
I think this is that Exxon-Mobil defending queen from the other posts. Must be tough for Black Republicans, can't even send their A-team to the blogs.
Posted by: Joshua R | 07 February 2007 at 22:19
I actually question the reliability of the entire poll, not just the results that pertain to the Republicans.
Oh, give it up, already. The Congressional minions who were reported as having been "surveyed" were probably the only ones willing to respond to the questions that were provided in the survey. Not all of the only 535 members of Congress. It would have been a simple matter for the pollsters to poll all of the 535 members of congress: just go to their offices.
Posted by: raj | 08 February 2007 at 06:44
Not even worth engaging these apologists. It's the same two or three, self-hating wannabe-pundits who come to every post on the environment, ranting against science and math.
The survey polled the same number of Democrats and Republicans. There was a 20 percent sample. It's the National Journal. That's all folks.
Posted by: A. Ronald | 08 February 2007 at 09:37
Joshua, I am black. I am not a Republican. Nothing in my previous posts suggests that I don't believe in global warming.
I am an environmentalist and a registered Democrat.
Further, I work for the National Academy of Sciences on climate change issues. As an employee of the NAS, I have access to the National Journal. I don't need you to educate me on their reputation. I read the National Journal regularly. I've spent more than a decade of my life advancing climate change issues....
Forgive me if I don't just accept polls at face value simply because they happen to report what I already believe or think I know about a group of people. I'm surrounded by fellow environmentalists and some of them are Republican....
But hey, thanks for the personal attacks. I'll continue to work on an issue that's important to me and you can continue to insult me simply because I don't denigrate the other side.
Posted by: atreyu | 08 February 2007 at 10:02
As far as I can tell, AGW (anthropogenic global warming a/k/a "climate change") isn't a racial issue. And it really shouldn't be a political issue. The fact is that AGW is real, the science behind it has been known for almost a century (that is, why CO2, water vapor and methane are greenhouse gases has been known for at least that long), and the only political issue is what, if anything, should be done about it.
What is often lost in all this is that, regardless of what the US does, the CO2 emissions from the emerging super-economies in China and India will overwhelm whatever reductions the US makes. Combined, China and India have about six times the population of the US, and they're going to emit CO2 from burning fossil fuels. To put it bluntly, the planet as we know it is screwed, and we (or our descendants) will just have to accommodate our- or them-selves to a changed planet. It's been done before.
Posted by: raj | 09 February 2007 at 08:48
atreyu
good to see a thinking person on here. someone who can stand back form their own personal agenda and point out the weakness of that survey.
I am amazed sometimes by the bile language and the attacking of anybody who does not agree with certain people. sometimes i think "do they really know what they sound like". i think they do, i think they just dont care.
Posted by: sm | 15 February 2007 at 22:44
people like Joshua and greg are the reasons why i dont comment on here. whetehr Rod realizes it or not, they are the type of peopel who are going to hurt his website in the long run.
they just lob names at people, never have I seen them actually offer a cohesive intelligent statement. never!
sorry guys. but its not settled. Even the UN report (which I am sure all you did was read some news clippings) says its 90% sure. 10% in science is HUGE! would you board a plane knowing that you only had a 90% chance to survive? Most people would not.
The top 2 glacier experts in India just stated the other day, that the reports of their glaciers shrinking is just not true. They also said there is not enough info to determine any long term patterns. There are over 9,750 glaciers in India alone.
This idea of a greenhouse effect is not settled science. consensus is not fact in science. Never has been.
There is way more agreement on the fact that there is little we can do to stop or slow down this warming process. Thats probably the most universally accepted fact. stop hyperventilatig and come up with reasonable ways to deal with global warming.
There are very very few scientists who willa rgue that global warming will be more negative than positive. Most will tell the truth, there will be some negative s and some positives. How much, we really dont know.
Most will tell you that Al Gores idea of the ocean rising by 20 ft is science fiction.
Posted by: sm | 15 February 2007 at 22:55
fact is, a person can believe the earth is warming; its caused at least partially by human activity; and still believe there isnt anything we can do about it.
That person can also still believe in conservation. This idea that because a person doesnt hold a certain view on global warming means they are tools of oil companies, is pure ignorance.
Posted by: sm | 15 February 2007 at 22:59
"SM" said, "Whether Rod realizes it or not, they are the type of people who are going to hurt his website in the long run."
I've seen your numerous comments in many of the global warming and political posts you always find a way to try to attack Rod personally. You're certainly not a friend of his or looking out for his or this site's benefit "in the long run." Seems to me like this site is one of the handful of blogs (gay or otherwise) that has made a substantial impact. Especially to cross over from a niche black gay blog into a general pop culture/news/politics blog. IMHO.
If you believe that global warming is real, and some of it may be caused by humans, and maybe it cannot be stopped ... then it seems like we're all in agreement.
Posted by: ca | 01 March 2007 at 18:15