Americans increasingly see climate change as a crisis, poll shows
A growing number of Americans describe climate change as a crisis, and two-thirds say President Trump is doing too little to tackle the problem.
The results, from a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), point to a growing disconnect between Americans worried about the warming planet and Trump administration officials, who have aggressively scaled back Obama-era environmental regulations and relinquished the nation’s role as a global leader in pushing for climate action.
The poll finds that a strong majority of Americans — about 8 in 10 — say that human activity is fueling climate change, and roughly half believe action is urgently needed within the next decade if humanity is to avert its worst effects. Nearly 4 in 10 now say climate change is a “crisis,” up from less than a quarter five years ago.
“I am deathly afraid, not for my kids, but for my kids’ kids and what they will have to deal with,” said Mechaella DeRicci, 50, a respiratory care practitioner in Bristol, Conn. “What are we leaving as a legacy besides a hot mess?”
Though Americans are increasingly worried about climate change, fewer than 4 in 10 say they believe that tackling the problem will require them to make “major sacrifices.” And most are unwilling to pay for it out of their own pockets.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/americans-increasingly-see-climate-change-as-a-crisis-poll-shows/2019/09/12/74234db0-cd2a-11e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html?wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1