[greenyes] Polling Data

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>]

Excerpt from February issue of Environmental Health Perspective,

Is Public Support for Environmental Protection Decreasing? An Analysis

of U.S. and New Jersey Data

Michael R. Greenberg

...

The assumption that during the last few years

public support for environmental laws has

decreased is borne out by the national and

New Jersey data. For more than two decades

Gallup and the Eagleton pollsters have asked

if protection of the environment should be

given priority even at the risk of curbing economic

growth, or vice versa. In March 2003,

47% of respondents to the national Gallup

polls said environmental laws should be given

priority even at the risk of curbing economic

growth (Gallup Organization 2003). This

proportion represents a decline from 54% in

March 2002; 57% in March 2001; and 70%

in January 2000. The 47% recorded in

March 2003 is the lowest proportion in a

Gallup poll (Gallup Organization 2003).

Although the 23% decline between 2000 and

2003 is the largest on record, double-digit

changes have been seen before, most notably

between 1990 and 1992. In 1990, 71% of

respondents chose environmental protection

rather than economic growth as a priority

(Gallup Organization 2003); the national

unemployment rate in 1990 was 5.6%. In

1992, when the unemployment rate was

7.5% (New Jersey Department of Labor

2003), 58% chose the environment.

...

______________________________
Peter Anderson
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING Corp
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705
Ph:    (608) 231-1100
Fax:   (608) 233-0011
Cell    (608) 438-9062
email: anderson@no.address