Weather, Water, Energy 1-26-07

Sometimes you just wish you didn't know stuff or find it out. Here's a very recent Pew Research Center poll of Americans showing that 23% of us still don't even believe global warming is happening and over half not attributing it to human activity (h/t Grist). Dems were better than Independents were better than Repubs (shock), who remain determinedly ignorant--the pattern holds based on education levels but only college grad Dems accept the human component of the crisis at majority levels and they're not close to European opinion (aka reality) on the question. Less than half of the respondents, including Dems, felt that it should be a top priority for Congress or the (cough) Pres. Do you see now why I get so pissed off at this MisterRogers "moderation" and "objective balancing" that dominates our media and our "leaders" on this? Meanwhile a Financial Times poll in Europe finds that 86% of those folks see that humans have responsibility and 45% see global warming as affecting them or their families in their lifetimes. 90% of Japanese say that "environmental criteria influence their lifestyle." So tell me. Whom do you think historians will write up as the people who screwed civilization and the course of human history? Honest to God, we are the planet's flat-earthers. What a legacy for our kids and grandkids. (Not betting on the great grandkids anymore.) . . . Looks like the Aussies will be with us, though, although its "citizen of the year" just called out the government that honored him, saying "There's no doubt this government's been dragging the chain." He seems to think his nation has been "the worst of the worst." No way, citizen man. You'll be eating our dust for decades. Their idiot PM's response to the insult: "Does it embarrass me? No it doesn't," Howard told commercial radio. He really must be the most blissful man alive, like the people who answered that Pew poll. . . . As we noted yesterday, some states at least have a clue. Here's more on that Climate Change Caucus going on in MT that we've mentioned before. Of course, this is a state that lives on coal sales. Good luck, guys. . . . Meanwhile, Turkey is watching its reservoirs dry up, harvests threatened, and improvement even more scarce from the future. Are they confused about what's happening? They say it's "global weather change." Shh, don't wake up the Americans.