God & Country

Pew Poll Analysis: Faith Is Major Factor in Global Warming Views

April 21, 2009 RSS Feed Print

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

Does faith influence Americans' opinions on global warming? A new Earth Day analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life suggests that it does. As usual, evangelical Christians and the religiously unaffiliated are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. This graph says it all:

(Data from a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 23-27, 2008, among 1,502 American adults. Results for other religious groups are not reported due to small sample sizes.)

 

Tags:
global warming,
Pew Research Center,
energy policy and climate change,
religion,
polls

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The fact of the matter is that people of faith, as a percentage of the population, are generally more open to serious discussion and debate, and as a result, are better informed. Those without faith tend to (generally) be led around by their emotions and the prevailing orthodoxy of the day. I recommend everyone take a deep breath, read something that argues against your point of view, and then make a commitment to serious, honest debate. If you view global warming as a serious threat the humanity or the planet, start with Bjørn Lomborg.

Christopher Joseph of SC 1:57AM April 29, 2009

This is depressing, but it is not surprising. Americans appear to base their opinions about the earth's climate (and our future) on what their friends and respected community members tell them. How about basing opinions about our future on the best guesses of the most informed people on earth--climate scientists?

Matthew Booker of NC 5:19PM April 22, 2009

Well, the question asked about "warming," not about "climate change." Anyone honest perons familiar with the data will tell you that, no, there is not solid evidence that "the earth is warming." We've been measuring weather patterns accurately enough over a long enough period of time to start seeing climate change in annual tabulations of climatic factors, but this isn't news. We've known that the climate changes slowly over long periods of time for a while now. But when you review the existing data, and you are honest, none of it is "solid evidence the earth is warming."

Warren Jensen of CA 4:27PM April 22, 2009

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Dan Gilgoff covers religion for U.S. News & World Report. He is the author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War, and is a former politics editor at beliefnet. E-mail Dan at godandcountry@usnews.com.

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