Poll finds Republicans in the US do want fossil fuels to be phased out

Apr 4, 2013 20:11 GMT  ·  By
Most Republican voters want high officials to tackle climate change, global warming
   Most Republican voters want high officials to tackle climate change, global warming

Quite a lot of US Republican congressmen are a tad reluctant when it comes to promoting environmentally friendly energy sources. 

However, it appears that most of the American voters who identify as either Republican or Republican-leaning independents do believe that fossil fuels and other similar dirty energy sources should be gradually phased out.

Thus, a poll recently carried out by specialists working with the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University has revealed that, when asked to comment on global warming, roughly 62% of those interviewed agreed that action against this ongoing phenomenon had to be taken as soon as possible.

While some of these people argued that the government “absolutely should” take measures against climate change, others only said that they “probably should.”

Still, the fact remains that there appears to be a consensus that global warming constitutes a threat to the country's wellbeing and has to be dealt with.

Mongabay quotes researcher Edward Maibach, who made a case of how, “The findings from this survey suggest there is considerable support among conservatives for accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean renewable forms of energy, and for taking steps to address climate change.”

Thus, the poll carried out by these researchers suggests that most US Republicans and Republican-leaning independents do not really see eye to eye with the Republican Party as far as climate change action is concerned.

“Perhaps the most surprising finding, however, is how few [i.e. 35%] of our survey respondents agreed with the Republican Party's current position on climate change,” Edward Maibach said.

Apart from their wanting high officials to phase out fossil fuels and the like in order to combat climate change, Republicans are hopeful that a greener industry energy will help rid the country of its dependence on foreign oil.

Furthermore, they appeared concerned with the possibility of providing their children and grandchildren with a better life.

A total of 726 adults took part in this poll.