As you know, Donald Trump has withdrawn this country from the Paris Accords -- the worldwide agreement to take action to reduce the effects of global climate change (sometimes referred to as "global warming"). Trump also put a man in charge of the EPA that does not believe in the goals of that agency (and is a global climate change denier). And Trump has made it clear that he supports the revival of coal and other fossil fuels to the detriment of clean and renewable energy sources.
The congressional Republicans are no better. Most are climate change deniers, and the few who aren't won't admit it's caused by human activity or oppose Trump on the issue.
But this puts Trump and the Republicans on the wrong side of this issue. A majority of both the general public (59%) and registered voters (58%) believe global climate change is a reality, and is being caused by human activity (the overuse and abuse of fossil fuels). And that is the view of both sexes, all age groups, all racial/ethnic groups, Democrats, and Independents. Only Republicans disagree.
The most common refrain from Republicans in Congress is that there is no scientific consensus on global climate change -- that scientists can't agree whether it is real or not. That's ridiculous, since 95% of scientists (and 97% of environmental scientists) agree that the change is happening and is due to human activity.
The public knows that. About 54% of the general public and 57% of registered voters believe there is scientific consensus on the issue. They don't believe the Republican excuses.
These charts reflect the results of a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between March 4th and 6th of a random national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,310 registered voters). The margin of error for adults is 3.3 points, and for registered voters is 2.9 points.
