The Hollywood Liberal

CNN poll misrepresents scientific consensus on climate change as view of “some people”

In a May 5 post on CNN’s Political Ticker blog, deputy political director Paul Steinhauser wrote that a recently released CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll “suggests that a slight majority [of Americans] oppose a proposal called ‘cap and trade,’ which would allow the federal government to limit the emissions from industrial facilities such as power plants and factories that some people believe cause global warming.” According to Pollingreport.com, the poll asked respondents if they “favor or oppose” a “proposal called ‘cap and trade’ [that] would allow the federal government to limit the emissions from industrial facilities such as power plants and factories that some people believe cause global warming.” In fact, it is not the view of “some people,” but rather, the overwhelming scientific consensus that those emissions are a major contributor to global warming. CNN host Wolf Blitzer also noted the poll results on the May 5 edition of The Situation Room, saying: “Our new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows just over half of the public opposes the so-called cap-and-trade plan to set a limit and a price on greenhouse gas emissions from large companies. That helps explain why negotiations on climate and energy legislation right now are so tense in the Congress.”

From the poll, as provided by pollingreport.com:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprised of hundreds of scientists from countries belonging to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) issued a “Synthesis Report” in 2007 concluding that “[w]arming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.” Addressing the causes of the warming, the report stated that “[h]uman activities result in emissions of four long-lived GHGs [greenhouse gases]: CO2, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and halocarbons (a group of gases containing fluorine, chlorine or bromine),” and that “[m]ost of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely [defined in the report as a “>90%” chance] due to the observed increase in anthropogenic [human-caused] GHG concentrations.”

According to the EPA, the “Electric Power Industry” and “Industry” economic sectors together produced a majority of 2007 U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, comprising 34.2 and 19.4 percent, respectively.

The national academies of sciences from G8 nations — including the U.S. National Academies of Sciences — issued a joint statement in June 2005 reading, “[T]here is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring” and that “[i]t is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities (IPCC 2001). This warming has already led to changes in the Earth’s climate.” The statement continued: “human activities are now causing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases — including carbon dioxide, methane, tropospheric ozone, and nitrous oxide — to rise well above pre-industrial levels.”

Other prominent scientific organizations, including NASA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and NOAA, have also concluded that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming.

From the May 5 edition of CNN’s The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Now to the Democrats’ divisions over the president’s efforts to ease global warming.

Our new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows just over half of the public opposes the so-called cap-and-trade plan to set a limit and a price on greenhouse gas emissions from large companies. That helps explain why negotiations on climate and energy legislation right now are so tense in the Congress.

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