Gallup Poll. GLOBAL WARMING

Environment

Americans are not opposed to policy initiatives aimed at improving the environment, but they are not pressing for them at this time.
The environment barely registers as a top-of-mind concern for the public when Americans are asked to name the country's top problem. Also, only 2% of Americans spontaneously mention the environment or pollution when asked to name the top one or two problems they want the president and Congress to deal with. By contrast, economic issues are mentioned by nearly 20% and energy costs by 15%.
Even when asked to look forward 25 years, more Americans perceive that a lack of energy or Social Security will be pressing problems than mention the environment.
The environment is a latent concern. Americans willingly say the government is doing too little to protect the environment. Many worry about environmental conditions. A significant majority believes that the quality of the environment is getting worse, not better.
There has been no meaningful change in recent years in Americans' perceptions of the overall quality of current environmental conditions. At the same time, Americans have grown more pessimistic about future environmental conditions. Sixty-seven percent of Americans in 2006, up from 63% in 2005 and the highest Gallup has recorded, say the quality of the environment is getting worse; just 25% say it is getting better.
On the prominent global warming issue, most Americans take it seriously as a problem. Sixty-three percent believe the effects of global warming are already manifest or will happen within five years. By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Americans believe human activities rather than natural causes explain the rise in the Earth's temperature.
At the same time, just roughly a third of Americans believe global warming will pose a serious threat in their own lifetimes.
The policy initiatives Americans would most welcome would appear to be those with the most direct impact: maintaining the safety of drinking water, curbing toxic waste, and improving water and air quality.
The 52% in 2006 saying the environment should take precedence over the economy is on the low end of the historical range for those taking this position. In the late 1990s through 2000, the percentage choosing the environment ranged from 65% to 70%.
Americans are closely divided on the tradeoff between the environment and energy source development, with 49% choosing the environment and 42% choosing the development of U.S. energy supplies.