KEITH JOHNSON: SHIFTING ARGUMENTS ON CLIMATE
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Climate change is back on the agenda in Washington after President Barack Obama‘s call to action in his second inaugural address. And while polls suggest that public belief that manmade causes are behind warmer temperatures isn’t yet back to the levels seen in the middle of the last decade, concern about climate change is recovering from the economic collapse of 2008-09, which buried the issue under economic worries.
Among the significant divides in public attitudes is age. In an October poll by the Pew Research Center, younger respondents showed the highest agreement with the view that warming is manmade and that it is a “very serious” problem. Only 28% of respondents 65 and over thought there was solid evidence the earth was warming because of human activity, versus 42% overall.
For climate-change campaigners and politicians in Washington, those demographics could be significant. As more young people—even those who are conservative on other issues—side with those who believe in manmade global warming, it could be easier to find the votes for aggressive action on the climate in Congress, although immediate moves appear unlikely.
Ben Lowe, one of the founders of an activist network called Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, shows how the issue influences a traditional bastion of Republican support.
Mr. Lowe, 28 years old, came from a long line of Republicans. But rising temperatures have been especially hard to avoid for him and his peers. “No one under 28 has experienced a cooler-than-average month,” he said. “Global warming is all we’ve ever known.”
Wisconsin native Kelsie Wendelberger knocked on doors to help Republican Gov. Scott Walker in his recall fight, and she said she considers herself conservative. “But it’s prudent to manage climate risk,” said the 20-year old sophomore at Wheaton College, a Christian school in Illinois.
Seniors Cooler to Global Warming
She said that from a cost-benefit standpoint, it pays to address climate change. “Look at the numbers,” she said. “It would have been better not to have to spend so much on recovery” after superstorm Sandy and other recent events.
For opponents of sweeping action to fight climate change, generational attitudes matter less than dollars and cents. Just as public concern about climate change bottomed out during the recession, Republican lawmakers warn that any steps by Washington to curb greenhouse-gas emissions—blamed by many scientists for contributing to climate change—or to add regulations on fossil fuels such as coal could harm the recovery.
“It is difficult to understand the everyday cost of these regulations and the climate agenda until you have to pay electric bills, purchase groceries, put gas in your car,” said Sen. James Inhofe (R., Okla.). “Influencing young people is easily accomplished in the academic setting, but many people change their views as they become directly affected by the real-world impacts of these regulations.”
What is more, the age divide isn’t enough to change the dynamics in Congress, where lawmakers are well-aware that older voters turn out more frequently and broad action to address global warming isn’t on the immediate agenda.
Write to Keith Johnson at keith.johnson@wsj.com
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