PPP's latest poll isn't about the presidential race per se; it's about how Americans are responding to President Obama's climate change agenda. And while there are serious critics who feel the president should have gone further, all the noise against his policies is coming from self-serving polluters like the Kochs and the political handmaidens they own, like Wisconsin's corrupt disgrace, Scott Walker. Voters across the board are not buying the Koch messaging, at least so far.
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that there’s strong support for the EPA’s new plan to limit carbon pollution from power plants and that a majority of voters consider climate change a serious problem.Key findings from the survey include:Koch's Walker puppet• There is widespread support for the EPA’s new plan to limit carbon pollution from power plants. Voters in all states, age groups, Democrats and Independents support the Clean Power Plan. Overall, 58% support the plan, while 40% oppose it after hearing arguments for and against the plan.• Voters across all 8 swing states and in all age groups consider climate change a serious problem. Democrats (77/22) are very concerned about climate change, with independents (55/44) in agreement. 37% of Republicans consider it serious while 62% don’t. There are more Republicans concerned about climate change than Democrats who are unconcerned.• When asked if they agree with Mitch McConnell’s urging the states to ignore the EPA and not develop a plan to cut carbon pollution, the answer was a resounding no: only 31% think states should drag their feet on implementation of new clean power plans; 59% say states should move forward and develop a plan to reduce carbon pollution from power plants.• Supporting climate change measures isn’t a particularly risky move for members of Congress. 63% say they would either be more likely to support their member or it would make no difference if they supported the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. This holds true in each state surveyed. Even Republicans say they would either be more likely to support their members in the future or it would make no difference: 47% total compared to 43% who would be more likely to oppose....The message is clear: There is strong support across swing states for the EPA's new plan to limit carbon pollution from power plants. There’s also limited potential for backlash against members of Congress who help move the policy along.
This chart helps make the reaction to the plan clear in 8 battleground states:Yesterday the Miami Herald reported on the findings in the state from which 2 climate change deniers, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, are basing their presidential ambitions.
"When asked 'How much of a problem do you consider climate change to be?', 62% of voters in Florida consider it a "serious problem," compared to 36% who don’t. After hearing a brief description of the Clean Power Plan and top arguments from proponents and opponents, 63% of voters in Florida say they support the plan while 35% oppose it. 66% of voters in Florida say they would either be more likely to support an elected official or it would make no difference if they supported the Clean Power Plan, compared to only 26% who would be more likely to oppose." Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s administration has been criticized by environmentalists for not addressing climate change. Earlier this year, the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting broke a story that cited former DEP officials who said they had been told verbally to phrases such as "climate change."But that hasn’t stopped Scott from bragging about his own environmental record. At a summit with presidential candidates in June, Scott said: "If you care about the environment, we've got record funding."Scott's team points to investments the state has made to restore the Everglades and springs during Scott’s tenure-- and he has championed both. However the budget for the state Department of Environmental Protection and for Florida Forever were not a record under Scott-- two major pots of money that relate to the environment. PolitiFact Florida rated his claim Pants on Fire.
In April the Washington Post reported on Rubio's twisting and turning on climate change... as he represents a state where flooding is becoming a way of life and coastal areas are in serious danger.
Like many GOP presidential hopefuls, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is trying to locate the maximally spineless position on climate change, bending to the anti-scientist crowd without sounding wholly anti-science. And like many GOP presidential hopefuls, he looks not just cowardly but intellectually hollow. Here’s his latest attempt, on Sunday’s Face The Nation:Humans are not responsible for climate change in the way some of these people out there are trying to make us believe, for the following reason: I believe the climate is changing because there’s never been a moment where the climate is not changing. The question is, what percentage of that… is due to human activity? If we do the things they want us to do, cap-and-trade, you name it, how much will that change the pace of climate change versus how much will that cost to our economy? Scientists can’t tell us what impact it would have on reversing these changes, but I can tell you with certainty, it would have a devastating impact on our economy.Rubio seems to be mashing up three climate-doubter themes: He attacks scientists, he attacks the cost of emissions-reductions policies and he attacks the notion that anything the United States does about climate change will matter. But most important, he keeps it all really vague. He opposes some unspecified policies favored by unspecified “people” because of an unspecified amount of skepticism about the science. He seems to admit that humans have some role in driving climate change, not as much as “some” claim, but he doesn’t say how much. And he fails to articulate what policies he does favor.This formless mess fails to stand up to even modest amounts of scrutiny.
