Greg Baker/AP
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Sometimes stereotypes of Americans can get carried away—we're big car drivin', flag wavin', devil-may-care, super consumin' folks according to much of the world. And though there may be hints of truth to every stereotype, we're more alert and informed than many give us credit for.
Case in point: I—an unrepentant American—was surprised and gladdened to find the results of a new study done by Yale University (PDF). The poll asked 2,164 Americans whether our government should act to reduce global warming—even in the midst of the worst recession of our lifetime.
The results were stunning: a whopping 92% of Americans said that yes, despite the bad economy, our government should be moving to combat carbon emissions. Two thirds of Americans said that we should impose restrictions on greenhouse gases regardless of what other countries do—and a full 34% said that Washington should act no matter what the economic cost; the issue is that important. And this study was completed merely weeks ago.
That's not to say Americans are without concerns—44% believed that fighting global warming would lead to more stringent government regulation, 31% thought it would make energy prices rise, and 17% were worried it would harm the economy and cost America jobs.
The point is, in the face of those major drawbacks, Americans have decided that yes, there may be a sacrifice, but yes—climate change is real and we need to do something real about it.
I remember another time when the rest of the world thought of us as war-mongering, oblivious philistines who'd never vote a black man into office, even when our nation was in dire need of change.
Kind of gives you hope, doesn't it?
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