The Republican Party has been trying to repeal President Obama's efforts to control global climate change, both in Congress and through the courts. They claim the global climate change (i.e., global warming) is either not due to human activity (misuse and overuse of fossil fuels) or is not happening at all. They want to remove regulations requiring corporations to stop their polluting.
And they will soon have a friend in the White House that agrees with them. Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn't believe humans or causing any climate change, and has in fact actually called global climate change a "Chinese hoax" -- denying the proof provided by by climate scientists, and believed by 97% of all the world's scientists.
Trump made this perfectly clear by choosing Scott Pruitt to be his director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Pruitt is a climate change denier, a friend of Big Oil and Big Coal, and has a history of trying to stop clean air initiatives through the court system. There is little doubt that for the next four years the EPA will go from being a protector of the American people to being a shill for Big Oil and Big Coal, and a protecter of corporations who pollute.
But just like on many other issues (protecting Social Security & Medicaid, raising the minimum wage, closing background check loopholes on gun purchases, etc.), Trump and his GOP cohorts find themselves in a position of opposing the beliefs and desires of the American public. About 62% of the public believes global climate change is real and is caused by human activity -- and that majority belief stretches across all gender, age and racial/ethnic groups. They are playing with fire, and this issue (like some others) could easily cause them some serious troubles.
The chart above is from a recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between December 17th and 20th of a random national sample of 1,376 adults, and has a 3.3 point margin of error.
