Sorry, Al Gore, but Public Cares About the Economy, Not Global Warming
May 05, 2009 01:41 PM ET
By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

He admits that it's counterintuitive, but Gallup Poll Editor Frank Newport
says he sees no evidence that Al Gore's campaign against global warming is
winning. "It's just not caught on," says Newport. "They have failed." Or,
more bluntly: "Any measure that we look at shows Al Gore's losing at the
moment. The public is just not that concerned." What the public is worried
about: the economy. Newport says the economy trumps the environment right
now, a strong indicator that President Obama's bid to put a cap-and-trade
pollution regime into operation isn't likely to be politically popular.

That's not to say people aren't passionate about the issue. But it's the
direction of their passion that will disappoint Gore. Newport says that some
41 percent believe global warming claims are exaggerated, and "that's the
highest we've seen." Ask people to name their biggest concerns, and just 1
percent to 2 percent cite the environment. "The environment doesn't show up
at all," says Newport.

"It's Al Gore's greatest frustration," says Newport. "We seem less concerned
than more about global warming over the years. . . . Despite the movies and
publicity and all that, we're just not seeing it take off with the American
public. And that was occurring even before the latest economic recession."

He adds: "As Al Gore I think would say, the greatest challenge facing
humanity . . . has failed to show up in our data."