In context, climate change not a big concern for most Americans

The Sierra Club made their (weak) case in today’s paper for “climate change” being an issue of extreme importance and one that should drive policymakers to embrace “renewables.” In the absence of context, sure, Americans are “concerned” with lots of things, but where does climate change really stack up?

Well, according to Gallup, “Americans Show Low Levels of Concern on Global Warming.” As Goldberg accurately noted in his original article, there ARE indeed environmental issues that are concerning to increasing numbers of Americans, but the abstract issue of “climate change” is nowhere near the top of that list (per Gallup’s own data).

It is also polls far below nearly all other major issues, especially the economy:

And, when discussing polling data, the issue of tradeoffs is important. Should we raise the minimum wage? Support for that is strong, but it goes down dramatically if job losses are discussed. The same is true for the environment. Everyone wants a cleaner environment, but at what cost? And that is assuming that “renewables” as implemented are really cleaner…

But, when it comes to wind, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data (as discussed by the Heartland Institute), “nine of the 11 largest wind power states are experiencing skyrocketing electricity prices, rising more than four times the national average. Moreover, prices in eight of the 11 states are rising more than twice as fast as in the 39 states with less than 7 percent wind power generation.” Fortunately, New Mexico is not on that list YET.

We soon could be, however. As we’ve reported in the past, New Mexico’s Renewable Portfolio Standard WILL cost utility customers billions of dollars once fully implemented and hundreds-of-millions annually after it is fully-implemented in 2020. Notably, the heaviest burden of increased electricity costs will be borne by the working poor who the left so often claims to support if only to expand government.