The fairly robust winter weather and chilly spring conditions over much of the United States seem to have stopped a period of growth in the number of Americans that think global warming is occurring. According to the latest version of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) from the […] Read more »
Republicans and Democrats Treat Fracking Like It’s Global Warming
The more liberals and conservatives know about science, the more they have wildly variant views about the risks of global warming, according to research by Yale’s Dan Kahan. You might call it the “smart idiot” effect—knowledge, itself, seems to make people with diametrically opposed views more sure that they’re right, […] Read more »
California: Majorities Favor Brown’s Revised Budget, School Funding Plan
Most Californians support Governor Jerry Brown’s revised budget proposal, and they overwhelmingly favor his spending plan for public schools. These are among the key findings of a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), with funding from The James Irvine Foundation. [cont.] Public Policy Institute […] Read more »
10 Fascinating Things About State Politics You Probably Didn’t Know
I just came back from the 13th annual State Politics and Policy Conference, held this year in Iowa City, Iowa. … The lessons we glean from state politics are actually incredibly valuable for people concerned with American politics. The U.S. state political systems are all largely based on the federal […] Read more »
Scientists agree on climate change. So why doesn’t everyone else?
Here’s a finding that shouldn’t be all that surprising: Since 1991, roughly 97 percent of all published scientific papers that take a position on the question agree that humans are warming the planet. That stat comes from this extensive new survey led by John Cook and Dana Nuccitelli, who run […] Read more »
Public Opinion on Fracking: Perspectives from Michigan and Pennsylvania
… This report examines public opinion in Michigan and Pennsylvania on a series of issues concerning the impact of fracking on the economy, environmental protection, and information disclosure. Pennsylvania and Michigan have been selected as the focus of this report because they represent states with varied levels of hydraulic fracturing […] Read more »