Is Climate Change A Sleeper Issue? Last Months Seminar Addressed The Issue

Back on September 20th, the Environmental Committee of the Middletown Democratic Party held a Seminar on Climate Change at the Middletown Library, I announced it but failed to follow up on its outcome.

It was a great event that was very informative and thought provoking; people walked away impressed with what they had heard, the video is posted below. If you're interested you should watch it.

But what jogged my memory about the event was an article posted on Mother Jones yesterday titled  "Is Climate Change the Sleeper Issue of 2012?" which says, according to recent polling data, swing voters are increasingly "green" voters, who are staring to become worried about extreme weather changes and think climate change needs to be further addressed.

According to  recent studies sited in the article, "...researchers conducted a survey in which respondents were broken into three groups, and then asked to support a hypothetical Senate candidate who either (1) denied the science of global warming and attacked cap and trade, (2) accepted the science and called for action, or (3) took no position on the issue. The result was clear: 77 percent of respondents supported the "green" candidate, 65 percent the neutral candidate, and only 48 percent the denier candidate. Both Democrats and independents strongly favored a green candidate over a neutral one, while for Republicans it was basically a wash—neither a pro- nor an anti-climate candidate moved them much. "By taking a green position on climate, candidates of either party can gain votes,"...

Their findings were reinforced earlier this year by researchers at Yale and George Mason University who, in a March 2012 survey, similarly found that taking a stand on climate has the potential to motivate Democratic and independent voters, without causing damage among Republicans. For instance, 82 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents agreed that the United States should undertake an either medium- or large-scale effort to cut down global warming...."

So, is climate change now a winning issue for politicians? Maybe, it depends on how the information is presented.

If it is presented in a way that is "relevant to their livelihoods, experiences in their states and localities.", people respond positively and are more likely to support politicians that believe something needs to be done about climate change.