Lawrence Solomon: Global warming ranks dead last, says Gallup

(March 31, 2011) According to a new Gallup poll, Americans consider global warming to be the least important environmental issue.

When it comes to environmental issues, global warming now ranks last in importance, according to a new poll of Americans conducted by Gallup. Only 25% of responders worry “a great deal” about global warming while 48% worry “only a little or not at all” about it. In contrast, pollution of drinking water ranked highest in concern, with 51% worrying a great deal and only 23% viewing it as a trivial issue.

The Gallup poll, in fact, shows that traditional environmental issues are foremost in the public mind. Of the nine environmental issues polled, the top four all related to water and the fifth involved air quality. Extinction of species and loss of tropical forests ranked sixth and seventh, followed by urban sprawl.

To see the full Gallup questions and responses, click here.

Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Energy Probe and the author of The Deniers. LawrenceSolomon@nextcity.com.

About Lawrence Solomon

Lawrence Solomon is one of Canada's leading environmentalists. His book, The Conserver Solution (Doubleday) popularized the Conserver Society concept in the late 1970s and became the manual for those interested in incorporating environmental factors into economic life. An advisor to President Jimmy Carter's Task Force on the Global Environment (the Global 2000 Report) in the late 1970's, he has since been at the forefront of movements to reform foreign aid, stop nuclear power expansion and adopt toll roads. Mr. Solomon is a founder and managing director of Energy Probe Research Foundation and the executive director of its Energy Probe and Urban Renaissance Institute divisions. He has been a columnist for The Globe and Mail, a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the editor and publisher of the award-winning The Next City magazine, and the author or co-author of seven books, most recently The Deniers, a #1 environmental best-seller in both Canada and the U.S. .

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