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Industry, emissions - Source: ONE News -
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Sharon Byers is unconvinced that human activities such as the
burning of coal and other fossil fuels are behind climate
change.
"There have been times in the past when there was global warming in
the absence of man. It is all part of a natural cycle. I think it
is a little vain to think man could destroy this great planet,"
said Byers, a former nurse who lives in Lee's Summit,
Missouri.
In the US heartland, global warming talk is often seen as hot air
and opinion polls show scepticism on the rise, fuelling
conservative opposition to a climate change bill that is a priority
for President Barack Obama and making some Democrats vulnerable in
the November 2010 congressional elections.
America will pledge at UN climate talks in Copenhagen that begin
next week to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, which most
scientists say are the main agents of climate change, by 17% below
2005 levels by 2020.
In global scientific circles, that is seen as vital as America
accounts for around a fifth of global emissions.
But for some conservative US activists it all seems
sinister.
"We're not interested in one-world government, which seems to be
the direction of this summit," said Dale Robertson, the founder of
the Tea Party organization which has held rallies across the
country to protest Obama's agenda.
A constant theme on conservative and Christian talk-radio stations,
which reach tens of millions of Americans, is the notion that the
global warming scare is a hoax aimed at crippling the US economy
and way of life.
This all strikes a chord in these tough economic times and opinion
polls show Americans cooling to the issue.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in November found that 72% of
Americans surveyed believed global warming was happening, down from
80% last year.
But even among Americans who accept that temperatures are climbing
there is reluctance to pin the blame on humans.
A Pew poll in October found 57% of Americans felt there was
evidence that the earth was warming, down from 71% in April
2008.
But only 36% attributed this to human activities, compared with
47% last year.
Tough sell, electoral risks
This makes the task of selling legislation to the US public to cap
emissions more difficult.
Getting legislation to this effect next year in the US Senate is
high on Obama's agenda.
The House of Representatives has narrowly passed its own version
and Republicans see opportunities here in next year's congressional
contests when the Democrats will be fighting to maintain their
majorities.
In the House of Representatives, Republican strategists have said
that Harry Teague of New Mexico and Betsy Markey of Colorado are
among the many Democrats seen vulnerable on this issue in
2010.
In the 100-seat Senate, some Democrats who are up for re-election
next year will be in a bind on the issue, much as some are now with
the healthcare debate.
"If the Senate does vote on climate change at some point next year,
certainly Sens. Barbara Boxer (California), Michael Bennet in
Colorado, Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, Arlen Specter in
Pennsylvania and Harry Reid in Nevada could all be vulnerable,
depending, of course, on how they vote," said Jennifer Duffy of the
nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent, said on Thursday
negotiators in the Senate are nowhere close to writing details of a
compromise climate change bill and that at least two key Senate
committees, Finance and Agriculture, have not yet worked on their
portions of a bill.
Until then, a compromise bill will not be drafted, he said.
Analysts say growing public scepticism on the issue is explained in
part by the recession and job losses.
"Up until a couple of years ago when people felt relatively wealthy
and secure, they were willing to consider climate change as a
problem we should address. But now that they feel more poor and
vulnerable they are sceptical," said Cal Jillson, a professor at
Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
There are other uniquely American cultural traits that drive views
on the issue, such as an enduring love affair with big vehicles
which has been dented though hardly crushed by last year's
record-high gas prices.
One in four US adults is also an evangelical Christian and, while
secular Europeans may find this odd, many really do believe that
biblical prophecy foretells the planet's end.
"If you are an evangelical Christian in the American vein then you
believe it is our responsibility to look after the planet but it
will be ultimately destroyed no matter what we do," said Bart
Barber, a Southern Baptist Convention preacher in the small north
Texas town of Farmersville.
