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Climate Crisis Depends On How Old You Are
By Mike McManus, Director of Engineering Construction & Industry Relations
Are climate change and the climate crisis important or not? It seems to be a partisan issue in some places. A recent poll in swing states says it all. People who are Democrats poll at 63% saying that the climate crisis is a “very important issue.” But on the Republican side, 80% polled said the issue is “somewhat important” to “not important at all.” This isn't just the Republicans in the United States; it is consistent in Europe with folks who are like American Republicans.
According to the Pew Research Center, nine in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the U.S. should prioritize developing alternative energy sources to address America’s energy supply. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, 42% support developing alternative energy sources, while 58% say the country should prioritize expanding exploration and production of oil, coal, and natural gas.
It is also an age-related issue. Older Americans are reluctant to phase out fossil fuels altogether, but younger adults are more open to it. Overall, about three in 10 adults (31%) say the U.S. should completely phase out oil, coal, and natural gas. More than twice as many (68%) say the country should use a mix of energy sources, including fossil fuels and renewables.
Climate change is a lower priority for Americans than other national issues. While the majority view climate change as a major threat, it is a lower priority than issues that strengthen the economy and reduce health care costs.
Overall, 37% of Americans say addressing climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress, and another 34% say it’s important, but a lower priority. This ranks climate change 17th out of 21 national issues included in the same Pew Research Center Survey.
As with views on the threat climate change poses, there’s a striking contrast between how Republicans and Democrats prioritize the issue. For Democrats, it falls in the top half of priority issues, and 59% call it a top priority. By comparison, among Republicans, it ranks second to last, and just 13% describe it as a top priority.
So, what gives? On a national level, the climate crisis does not rise to a crisis level. How can some people see it as a crisis and others not see it as important at all? It is not like the aftermath of Pearl Harbor; everybody agreed we had a crisis on our hands then.
We hear from our member companies that corporations are taking the views of the climate crisis very seriously. In some markets, the young people, who companies are competing for, have views of the world that say the climate crisis and policies that drive environmentally sustainable business results are a priority for these employees. So, companies need to pay attention to their carbon footprint because younger employees seeking to be employed have strong views in this area.
If you attended the University of California in the 1970s and took science courses, there was a widely held belief in academia shared by many college professors of the day. That was a belief that the world would run out of oil by 1993 or so. Therefore, it was a top priority among scientists to develop alternative energy sources like battery, electric, solar, wind, and hydrogen to power cars, trucks, and power plants. Sound familiar?
Well, 1993 came and went and we did not run out of oil. In fact, we have doubled down on burning fossil fuels worldwide.
It took us a century or so of burning fossil fuels to fuel our economies worldwide to get where we are today. It may take us 50 years to turn that around into a world economy based on renewable energy. Technology is still evolving, but it seems inevitable that we will get there, slowly but surely.
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