April 30, 2008 1:01PM # The Global Warming Hysteria that Isn’t, Part II By [Jerry Taylor](https://www.cato.org/people/jerry-taylor) --- SHARE Last week, [a Gallup poll](http://www.pollingreport.com/enviro.htm) was released revealing that about one-third of Americans worry “a great deal” about global warming, a number that hasn’t changed much since 1989. Less than half of the respondents believed that climate change would pose a serious threat to them in their lifetimes. The trade publication *ClimateWire* ([subscription required](http://www.eenews.net/cw/)) quotes a Gallup official as noting that “there has been no consistent upward trend on worry about global warming going back for decades.” Today, *ClimateWire* reports that a new study from the [Pew Research Center for the People & the Press ](http://people-press.org/)has even worse news for environmentalists: climate change is at the absolute bottom of the public’s list of priorities for the federal government (oddly enough, there’s no trace of the report on Pew’s website). When given a list of issues and asked to state whether the issue should be a “top priority” for President Bush and the Congress, those surveyed responded as follows: Strengthening the nation’s economy: 75% Defending the country against terrorism: 74% Reducing health care costs: 69% Improving the educational system: 66% Securing social security: 64% Improving the job situation: 61% Securing Medicare: 60% Dealing with energy problems: 59% Reducing the budget deficit: 58% Protecting the environment: 56% Reducing crime: 54% Providing insurance to the uninsured: 54% Dealing with the problems of the poor: 51% Dealing with illegal immigration: 51% Reducing middle class taxes: 49% Dealing with moral breakdown: 43% Strengthening the military: 42% Reducing the influence of lobbyists: 39% Dealing with global trade: 37% Making tax cuts permanent: 35% Dealing with global warming: 35% Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The political strength of the environmental lobby is almost entirely based on the proposition that they represent a large number of well organized swing voters who will reward and/​or punish politicians for their position on environmental issues in general and climate change in particular. Hence, a great deal of hard work and effort goes into the Green campaign to scare hell out of politicians regarding the political risks associated with saying no to things like a cap & trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To be fair, all special interest groups have the same incentive to talk-up their alleged public support. Regardless, this particular political Green emporer has no clothes. ##### Related Tags [Energy and Environment](https://www.cato.org/research/energy-environment), [General](https://www.cato.org/general) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).