Pew Poll - 10 Things That Americans Care About More Than The Environment

[hatrack]

Today Pew Research is highlighting a recent poll that shows that 52 percent of Americans believe protecting the environment should be “a top priority for the president and Congress in 2013.” That’s up 11 percentage points from 2009, though still down from a high of 57 percent in 2006 and 2007.

Those numbers all sound pretty good until you realize that the key word there is “a,” as in, not “the.” In fact, the poll lists 18 possible priorities, ranked by the percentage of respondents who think each one should be at or near the top of the nation’s priority list. “Strengthening nation’s economy” comes in first, followed by “improving job situation” and “reducing budget deficit.” And if “growing the GDP,” “improving the nation’s financial outlook,” and “putting more Benjamins in people’s pockets” had been options in this survey, I have no doubt they would have rounded out the top six.

As it is, “protecting environment" comes in a lackluster 11th, behind “defending against terrorism,” “reducing crime,” “securing Social Security,” and “securing Medicare,” among others. Heck, Americans even care more about “helping poor and needy” than they do about the environment. When was the last time you saw a big legislative package emerge from Washington with the primary intent of helping the poor and needy? The good news for greens is that there is a second environmental priority on Pew’s list: “dealing with global warming.” The bad news is that it ranks dead last, behind “strengthening the military,” “dealing with global trade,” and “dealing with nation’s energy problem.”

EDIT

1.
Strengthening nation’s economy
86%
2.
Improving job situation
79%
3.
Reducing budget deficit
72%
4.
Defending against terrorism
71%
5.
Securing Social Security
70%
6.
Improving education
70%
7.
Securing Medicare
65%
8.
Reducing health care costs
63%
9.
Helping poor and needy
57%
10.
Reducing crime
55%
11.
Protecting environment
52%
12.
Dealing with nation’s energy problem
45%
13.
Strengthening the military
41%
14.
Dealing with illegal immigration
39%
15.
Strengthening gun control laws
37%
16.
Dealing with global trade
31%
17.
Improving infrastructure
30%
18.
Dealing with global warming
28%

EDIT/END

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/22/earth_day_pew_research_poll_shows_how_little_americans_care_about_the_planet.html

[GeorgeGist]

1. Strengthening the military, 41%?

[rurallib]

2. Looks like people pick what the M$M emphasizes

My #1 is getting our government out of Wall Street's hands (banksters etc.) I do not see that on there at all.
#2 for me would be jobs based on environment, infrastructure and preparing for the future.

[The2ndWheel]

3. Shocking

I mean, what's the answer to a slow down economically? Stimulus. Then keep doing that, as much as needed, until the economy gets churning again.

Of course those are the top 10 and the environment falls outside of it. The top 10 is what every politician runs on, because the top 10 get you elected. The only mildly surprising thing is that improving infrastructure isn't ahead of the environment.

[GliderGuider]

4. This should come as no big surprise to anyone.

Humanity is in general blind to any activity that does not either a) promote immediate survival and/or b) dissipate potential energy gradients. Economic activity (that dissipates potential energy gradients) and physical/economic security (that promote immediate survival) are the drivers behind every one of the top 10.

Dealing with the environment isn't as dissipative as messing it up in the first place, and it doesn't promote immediate survival, so it falls below the fold. Notice how far down "Dealing with global warming" falls.

"Dealing with the nation's energy problem" is an interesting item, though. It should be high on the list because it's both dissipative and promotes survival. But since this is a poll of attitudes, its placement implies that the population at large thinks it's being done relatively well at the moment. Presumably people are satisfied with the combination of fracking, offshoring industrial production and erecting big stone heads, aka wind turbines.

[stuntcat]

5. and #12 "Dealing with nation's energy problem" just means Drill Baby, Drill!