Survey Finds Most Republicans Seek Action on Climate Change

It’s time for that national “listening tour” on energy and climate, President Obama. Some evidence comes in a new survey from the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University (seen via Tom Yulsman on Facebook). Here’s an excerpt from the news release:

In a recent survey of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents conducted by the Center for Climate Change Communication (4C) at George Mason University, a majority of respondents (62 percent) said they feel America should take steps to address climate change. More than three out of four survey respondents (77 percent) said the United States should use more renewable energy sources, and of those, most believe that this change should begin immediately.

The national survey, conducted in January 2013, asked more than 700 people who self-identified as Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents about energy and climate change.

“Over the past few years, our surveys have shown that a growing number of Republicans want to see Congress do more to address climate change,” said Mason professor Edward Maibach, director of 4C. “In this survey, we asked a broader set of questions to see if we could better understand how Republicans, and Independents who have a tendency to vote Republican, think about America’s energy and climate change situation.”

The reason a listening tour is the next step, and not a pre-packaged batch of legislation or other steps, is to build on the common ground across a wide range of Americans on energy thrift, innovation and fair play (meaning policies that distort the playing field, with mandated corn ethanol production and tax breaks for fossil fuel companies prime examples).

This might even lead to a new sense of mission in this country, something that’s been lacking since the cold war and space race.

In Mother Jones, Chris Mooney has an interesting spin on the survey, noting that the way global warming was framed probably had an impact on the level of buy-in on the questions.

It’s been clear for years that there are ways around the familiar partisan roadblocks on climate-smart energy policies. In 2009, the “Six Americas” survey by the same George Mason researchers and counterparts at Yale revealed this clearly. I distilled those findings into three slides here.

Here’s a bit more on the survey from the George Mason Web site:

This short report is based on a January 2013 national survey of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents. We found that they prefer clean energy as the basis of America’s energy future and say the benefits of clean energy, such as energy independence (66%) saving resources for our children and grandchildren (57%), and providing a better life for our children and grandchildren (56%) outweigh the costs, such as more government regulation (42%) or higher energy prices (31%).

By a margin of 2 to 1, respondents say America should take action to reduce our fossil fuel use. Also, only one third of respondents agree with the Republican Party’s position on climate change, while about half agree with the party’s position on how to meet America’s energy needs.

You can download the report here: A National Survey of Republicans and Republican-Leaning Independents on Energy and Climate Change.

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Quote Roundup: Lynchburg, Va., Presidential Survey Results (ContributorNetwork)

With the presidential election still a year away, most voters are following the campaigns and listening to candidates before making their decision. Voters in the Lynchburg, Va., area seem assured President Barack Obama will not get re-elected, but they remain unsure of who the Republican nominee will be.

Here are some comments from Lynchburg-area residents:

* "I have no idea who's even running. I say whoever the Republicans nominate will win next year because Obama has screwed everything up." -- Regina Cason, administrative assistant, independent, Alta Vista, Va.

* "I consider myself a strong independent, so I'm not really following the races right now. I don't know who will win next year, but probably won't be Obama. I cannot logically imagine that he would win another election, but honestly I didn't think he would have won last time either." -- Carlita Maize, retail store manager, independent, Redding, Va.

* "I haven't really starting paying attention to the candidates yet, but I kind of like Herman Cain. He knows how to create jobs and that's what this country needs right now. I don't know who will win next year, but hopefully it won't be Obama. We need someone who can get something done and I'm tired of waiting." -- Lesa Frankenberry, self employed, Republican, Point Marion, Pa.

* "Probably (Mitt) Romney, because he ran before. I hope Herman Cain gets the nomination for vice president because he ran a good pizza company. It really don't matter to me who wins for the Republicans because President Obama needs another time in the White House. He'd do a lot more if everyone would stop picking on him and let the man do his job." -- Trinity Minns, grocery cashier, Democrat, Gladys, Va.

* "The vice president is probably going to be Herman Cain because I don't think he's going to raise the money to win the nomination in the first place. The nominee will be either Rick Perry or Mitt Romney, but they both could burn each other up in the infighting that these primaries always bring out in people. Whoever gets the nomination, they need to beat Obama and stop that nutty health care plan from killing this country." -- Benton Minnick, retired civil servant, Republican, Rustburg, Va.

* "The Republicans won't find anyone to beat Obama, so it don't matter who they pick. Obama is fighting for the working people and they are the ones who vote anyway. He just needs to get all the Republicans out of Congress and then he can his job done without them trying to stop him all the time." -- Franklin Morrison II, car wash attendant, Democrat, Madison Heights, Va.

* "I really hope Jon Huntsman can pull it off because I think he's got the experience to really help the country. Herman Cain would be a great vice president for him too. I'm not sure that Huntsman will win the nomination, but if he does I think he can beat Obama easily. Obama has too many problems with the economy and he doesn't know what he's doing." -- Mark L. Weyersmann, financial consultant, Republican, Lynchburg, Va.

* "I want President Obama to win, but I don't think he's going to. I think (Mitt) Romney is going to get the win and take Rick Perry with him as vice president. They would do good for the country I think." -- Eleanor Freeg, retired school cafeteria aide, Democrat, Lynchburg, Va.

* "It's really hard to know right now. I mean they all keep switching positions in every poll. I wanted Sarah Palin, but she's not running I'm told. Maybe the other woman will win the nomination because we need a woman in the president's spot. Palin would have been good. She was a governor and all and took care of Alaska. Obama doesn't deserve another chance. Look what he's done to the economy and all that spending." -- Mary Ach, assistant manager, Green Party, rural Lynchburg, Va.

Dan McGinnis is a freelance writer, published author and former newspaper publisher. He has been a candidate, campaign manager and press secretary for state and local political campaigns for more than 30 years.

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