Talk About Your No-Brainers!

The other week a friend and I were chatting about politics and he wondered why the environment is considered a "liberal" issue. When you think about it, there's really no clear reason, other than the fact that some big businesses (and one should emphasize the "some") fear that it will cut their profits (see, e.g., the oil companies who own the Bush junta). (Of course, other big businesses are realizing that (a) global climate change is cutting into their profits (see, e.g., insurance companies) and (b) that there's money to be made cleaning up the environment and providing green alternatives (see, e.g., producers of solar panels for homes, who literally can't produce their product fast enough to meet demand)). But beyond that, everyone suffers from, for example, air pollution and the effects of greenhouse gases and many conservatives enjoy spending time outdoors doing everything from fly fishing to sailing. So why shouldn't the environment be an issue that Democratic candidates could seize upon and generate broad support?

A new poll from Zogby indicates that my friend is probably on to something. Zogby finds that, "dramatically," concern about global climate change: is a sentiment shared by a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and political independents. While many more Democrats believe in global warming (87%), 56% of Republicans concur. Among independents, 82% think we are experiencing the effects of global warming. These numbers indicate a shift in the momentum of global warming believers. Those figures are worth repeating: A majority of Republicans and an overwhelming majority of Democrats and independents believe in global warming.


Further, Zogby found that: As Americans recover from this summer's heat wave and mark the first anniversary next week of Hurricane Katrina , an overwhelming majority say they are more convinced that global warming is happening than they were two years ago, and they are also connecting intense weather events like hurricane Katrina and heat waves to global warming. . . .

Asked what influence global warming has had on specific weather events, 65% said they believe it had an influence on this summer's heat wave that baked the U.S., and 68% said they think it was a factor in development of more intense hurricanes like Katrina. Similar numbers are seen for other weather phenomenon including droughts, wildfires and snowfall.

Finally, the Zogby poll shows how easy it would be for the Democrats to run on and, one assumes, push through, environmental measures: The survey also indicated there is strong support for measures to require major industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to improve the environment without harming the economy: 72% of likely voters agreed such measures should be taken. That sentiment was consistent across a wide age spectrum of respondents, but there was some split along party lines. Among Democrats, 81% agreed major industries should be required to cut greenhouse gas emissions, while 61% of Republicans agreed. Among independents, 73% said major industries should be required to decrease certain emissions. I think, again, that those numbers bear repeating. A significant majority of Republicans and very large majorities of Democrats and independents agree that major industries should be required to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

I have trouble thinking of any other issue where I've seen such unity of opinon among Americans today. Why shouldn't the Democrats be pushing a very strong environmental agenda and, at the very least, forcing the Republicans to vote against measures that even 61% of their own party members want to see enacted?