Politics

Poll: Half Of Republicans Support Climate Regulations

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Michael Bastasch DCNF Managing Editor
Font Size:

A new poll released by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and Yale University claims that half of Republicans said they would support regulating carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming.

Six in 10 Americans supported regulations on carbon dioxide, according to the AP poll, including half of Republicans — who also apparently agree that “the U.S. should lead the global fight to curb climate change, even if it means taking action when other countries do not.”

Sixty percent of Republicans said the government should fund “clean energy” research, according to the AP poll, while less than 40 percent said the government should put more money into nuclear power.

The White House, Democrats and environmentalists have spun the AP poll as showing broad, bipartisan support for President Obama’s executive orders to tackle global warming.

“The American people have made it clear they know climate change is real, and that we can protect the planet and grow the economy at the same time,” White House spokesman Frank Benenati told the AP. “Climate deniers in Congress and those who would try to block efforts to address the climate challenge would do well to listen.”

“This poll proves that Republicans here in Washington are disconnected from average Republicans across the country,” echoed California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. “Anyone with a pulse and a heartbeat — with the exception of Republicans in Congress — knows that climate change is upon us, and we must step up and reduce dangerous carbon pollution.”

But do half of Republicans really back climate regulations like those proposed by the Obama administration? It becomes less clear since the AP’s own poll shows that only 46 percent of Republicans believe that global warming is “caused entirely/mostly by human activities.”

Of those Republicans who believe mankind is primarily to blame for global warming, only 24 percent say they are extremely or very worried about it. In fact, even among 57 percent of adults who blame mankind for most or all the warming, only 34 percent are very worried about it — 38 percent are only moderately worried and 20 percent are “not too worried or not worried at all.”

“Global warming was second to last among environmental issues. That is all you need to know,” said Mike McKenna, GOP political strategist, told the AP, alluding to the fact that environmental issues almost never rank among voters’ top concerns in elections.

Yet AP and Yale pollsters found that 50 percent of Republicans would support carbon dioxide regulations, despite only 24 percent of less than half of Republicans being very worried about global warming.

It should also be mentioned that even though 50 percent of Republicans supported global warming regulations, the poll never specified which regulations they would back.

“Americans are more concerned about the economy, jobs, and affordable and reliable energy, which is counter to the type of regulations coming out of President Obama’s EPA,” echoed Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe, who will take Sen. Boxer’s place as chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee next year.

Follow Michael on Twitter and Facebook

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel