Climate, Energy & Environment

Which countries will win, which ones will lose in the race for tourism dollars as global warming heats up. (Hint: Book that Mongolian vacation now.) And did embedded reporters slant the news in Iraq?

New findings from a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press poll show that public attitudes about global warming are deeply divided along partisan lines. But even among Democrats, global warming ranks low relative to other issue priorities.

Summary of Findings Americans generally agree that the earth is getting warmer, but there is less consensus about the cause of global warming or what should be done about it. Roughly four-in-ten (41%) believe human activity such as burning fossil fuels is causing global warming, but just as many say either that warming has been […]

Summary of Findings Most Americans believe that Iran wants to possess nuclear technology in order to develop nuclear weapons, not energy. But there is broad public opposition to launching U.S. air strikes against military targets in Iran, with multilateral sanctions by far the preferred option approach for dealing with the situation. More than eight-in-ten Americans […]

Summary of Findings A summer’s worth of bad news, culminating with Hurricane Katrina, has taken a toll on the public’s mood, particularly when it comes to views of the economy and energy costs. The public’s economic expectations, while hardly robust in the spring, have grown much more negative. Nearly four-in-ten (37%) think economic conditions will […]

Summary of Findings The American public is not happy with the nation’s political leadership. President Bush’s approval rating remains below 50%, and just 39% approve of the job performance of Republican congressional leaders. Despite the paltry ratings for GOP leaders, however, Democrats have failed to benefit. The public has about the same low regard for […]

In contrast to abortion, gay marriage and other hot-button cultural issues, which divide most religious groups in the United States, there is a fairly strong consensus across faith traditions on environmental policy, according to recent polls sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Nevertheless, conservative Christians and some minorities are not quite […]

Introduction and Summary Most Americans are willing to join other countries in setting standards to improve the global environment and a majority would even pay more for gasoline to reduce global warming. But on the eve of the December Kyoto conference on climate change, the American public strongly rejects the notion that the United States […]