I knew that global warming hysteria had badly infected Europe several years ago. Secondhand Smokette and I sojourned in France and countries Nordic. We met a friend who is a diplomat for a European country. He really hated President Bush, surprisingly, not because of Iraq—he thought we had a duty to finish the job—but because of Bush’s refusal to go along with Kyoto, even though its targets were generally never going to be met. As we traveled, we discovered that was a commonly accepted view. It was really belief, that mattered to them—an emotional desire that still motivates true believers, as demonstrated by their wielding of the term “denier” as an (impotent) epithet.
Americans have always been less prone to the warming panic. And now, we seem to be almost cured. According to a new Pew Poll, fear of warming is dead last among the public concerns. From the story:
Dealing with global warming ranks at the bottom of the public’s list of priorities; just 28% consider this a top priority, the lowest measure for any issue tested in the survey. Since 2007, when the item was first included on the priorities list, dealing with global warming has consistently ranked at or near the bottom. Even so, the percentage that now says addressing global warming should be a top priority has fallen 10 points from 2007, when 38% considered it a top priority. Such a low ranking is driven in part by indifference among Republicans: just 11% consider global warming a top priority, compared with 43% of Democrats and 25% of independents.
That should kill Cap and Trade, which would increase energy prices and everything associated with it, from home heating to food. And without America voluntarily handcuffing its economy to Cap and Trade, the joke that is Copenhagen—China and India are refusing to sign—is about as far as this nonsense will go internationally.
The Europeans, still badly infected, might continue to depress their economies. But I don’t think it will happen in America—unless President Obama unleashes the EPA to really kill growth. But if he does that, his political team will have real electoral problems with which to contend. Indeed, some Democrats are already maneuvering to stop the EPA threat. Now, there’s an issue with real potential to restore bipartisanship to the American government.
