Belief in Climate Change

Could it be that our previous blog entry—about Canadian regulators rejecting efforts to repeal a law that forbids lying on broadcast news—explains the discrepancy between how citizens in the U.S. and Canada view climate change? A poll was recently released (Feb 23) comparing the two countries.

Is there solid evidence that the earth is getting warmer? 80% of Canadians think so. Americans? 58%. Now I’m not saying that the other 42% of Americans are watching too much Fox News (that wasn’t one of the polling questions) but I’m also not willing to say they’re reading the New York Times.

What causal factors determine one’s views on the existence of climate change? In the States, a slew of factors—age, gender, education—all seem to play some part in one’s belief in climate change. In Canada, the belief stays consistent across these variables; young or old, male or female, college educated or not, belief in climate change remains remarkably steady. In fact, a higher percentage of non-college educated Canadians (78%) believe in the existence of climate change compared to college educated Americans(64)%.

However, there IS one causal factor that reveals the most significant difference in one’s belief in climate change: political ideology. Conservatives in Canada and Republicans in the States are far less likely to believe in the existence of climate change compared to Liberals and Democrats.

Now we have come full-circle back to my opening question. Could lax broadcasting standards and a lower belief in climate change be related? Canada’s Prime Minister, an Alberta boy who wants to use the Tar Sands to turn Canada into an energy superpower, apparently thinks so. Who, after all, wants to lower the standards of Canadian news broadcasting? The conservative Prime Minister. On the right end of the political spectrum, it would seem that citizen ignorance is bliss; perhaps it’s even a political strategy.

To read the full report on the poll, go here: http://www.ppforum.ca/sites/default/files/Climate%202011_Report.pdf