Climate Change Poll Finds Most Americans Unwilling To Pay Higher Energy Costs

[phantom power]

Reinventing hatrack's principle:

Most Americans, according to the survey, believe that climate change is occurring and that it causes serious problems, including more frequent and severe natural disasters. But only 21 percent said they would be willing to pay 50 percent more at the pump or for electricity bills to fight it. Fifty-four percent say they would be unwilling to do so. The rest were unsure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/climate-change-poll-energy-costs_n_2067125.html

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. I hope this doesn't surprise you.

Think about the number of supposedly liberal/progressive democrats who must have said No or I'm not sure to arrive at those numbers.

It's rather like the "tax the rich" attitude...everyone's taxes are too low, but just raise taxes on the rich and everything will be fine once again. As silly as believing that tax cuts help the economy or that the rich are job creators.

[My Good Babushka]

2. Maybe

Americans don't have enough money to make ends meet as it is, and it's hard to see how giving more money to energy companies, who lobby Congress and stop climate change legislation with that money, is ever going to give Americans an affordable energy alternative.

[Kablooie]

3. No surprise there.

So clean energy must be made affordable enough to compete.

[AverageJoe90]

4. That would be nice, but....

We also need a manufacturing effort at least comparable to that of the Civil War, if not WWII.

[RobertEarl]

5. We can not afford clean air

All of the environment is free for the taking and to be abused, and you want some of us to now start paying for it?

We already pay for those things which lead to a dirtier environment and now you want us to pay to clean it up?

How anti-American can you be?

[CRH]

6. Great the solution is obvious, ...

You don't want to pay more then everyone can cut back consumption and energy use by 50%.

Still not enough, but is is a start, with an economic foundation.

[wtmusic]

7. Polling (and reporting on it) doesn't get much crappier than this.

"Climate Change Poll Finds Most Americans Unwilling To Pay Higher Energy Costs" becomes...

*poof*

"Only one in five Americans would be willing to pay significantly more for gas or electricity" becomes...

*poof*

"But only 21 percent said they would be willing to pay 50 percent more at the pump or for electricity bills to fight it. Fifty-four percent say they would be unwilling to do so. The rest were unsure."

Can we assume that 46% of Americans might be willing to pay 50% more? Or that 90% of Americans might be willing to pay 20% more? Of course not...we can't assume anything from a poll with an idiotic premise. Is there a real scientist in the house who can point that out?

"Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State University, said the survey's questions citing 50 percent higher costs may prove to seriously overestimate prices associated with curbing climate change."

Thank you.

[phantom power]

8. one thing I wondered, was: x% more than what?

the price of fuel has fluctuated quite a lot over the last few years.

[mrf901]

9. the poor and working classes are always the target for explotation

gasoline and electricity used by poor are
always the targets of the eviro lobbyists.

increase the tax on aviation fuel
or yacht fuel ...never going to happen

[NickB79]

10. Frankly, Mother Nature doesn't give a fuck if you're rich or poor

We could OUTLAW all aviation and yacht fuel, and it wouldn't make a bit of difference WRT global warming.

What's killing our planet isn't a few rich assholes flying their private jets. It's every person on this planet, each consuming a little bit more every year, each contributing one of the thousand cuts that's bleeding us dry.

[mrf901]

12. really? jet fuel needs 8% of the US's crude oil input.

aviation produces next to nothing.
how many business trips are really needed?
10% maybe.

and then there is air freight.
when you feast on Chilean Sea Bass,
it has to be flown in fresh.
Yeah sure

[Nihil]

13. And yet there are major nations (guess who) that are fighting tooth & nail ...

... against any tax on jet fuel (or anything that might impact the profits of
the almost totally unnecessary aircraft industry and its supporters).

> aviation produces next to nothing.
> how many business trips are really needed?
> 10% maybe.

1% more likely.

Far less than that are actually necessary for anything other than padding
the vanity of "businessmen" - only air ambulances, search & rescue and
other emergency service use is truly beneficial (and no, I most emphatically
exclude helicopter gunships and other military uses from anything that
approaches "useful&quot .

[AverageJoe90]

11. Yep.

And frankly, all this talk of blaming the common people is only going to turn people away from the truth.

To be perfectly honest, most people wouldn't make that big of a fuss about switching over to alternative energy as long as it didn't hit their pocketbooks too hard.