WASHINGTON – Despite Republican lawmakers’ resistance to carbon emission regulation, a new study suggests voters’ views don’t always align with their elected officials’ actions.
On Monday, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication said 54 percent of voters that identify as Republican support regulating carbon dioxide emissions, the main agent in climate change, according to most scientists. The survey was conducted using data from a sample of 2,230 registered Republicans over the past two years.
The study used six national surveys conducted by the university over the past three years to assemble one comprehensive analysis on the diverse array of opinions voters that identify as Republican have on climate change.
Considering the large sample of the study, researchers at Yale were able to separate the Republican Party into moderate and liberal wings, conservative Republicans and tea -party Republicans.
In general, when asked if they think global warming is occurring, 62 percent of moderate Republicans and 68 percent of liberal Republicans replied that they think it is happening. Yet, only 38 percent of conservative Republicans and 29 percent of tea party Republicans agreed that global warming is already under way..
The difference in opinions amongst factions of the Republican Party on this issue highlights an apparent divide in the party.
Yet, in contrast to this array of opinions on climate change and slight majority support in favor of more regulation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republicans have promised to oppose EPA limits on carbon emissions that are championed by President Barack Obama.
Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow on public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative leaning think tank, was not surprised by the findings and the gap between public opinion and the views of many Republican leaders. The problem, Bowman noted, lies in the lack of import voters place on climate change on Election Day.
In fact, according to a study conducted by Pew Research, a majority of Republican voters believe dealing with global warming should be one of the lowest priorities for lawmakers.
This Pew study, which was completed a year ago, found that only 14 percent of Republican voters in a 1,504-person sample believe global warming should be a national political priority.
“Americans agreed in the early seventies that we wanted a clean and healthful environment and that were willing to spend a lot of money on it,” Bowman adds. However, “Americans tend to disengage from the means at the national level.”
Therefore, even though voters may disagree on causes of environmental problems, they will leave the logistics of dealing with the environment to lawmakers.
“The issue is just not a top tier issue for most Americans,” said Bowman.
