Some people scoffed when Bernie Sanders compared climate change to terrorism at a Democratic presidential debate in November, just hours after the devastating terror attacks in Paris. Yet, a new poll from the Pew Research Center reveals that Democrats agree with him. Dangers to the environment, they suggested, deserve more attention than terrorism.
The survey, conducted April 12 to 19 among 2,008 U.S. adults, found that 77 percent of Democrats believe global climate change is a major threat to the “well-being of the United States.” Incredibly, it was one percent more than Democrats who thought the same about ISIS.
As for Republicans, they have a vastly different view about the dangers we face. An overwhelming number, 91 percent, said ISIS was a major threat. Climate change barely landed on their radar - only 26 percent said it was a threat.
Secretary of State John Kerry was one of 175 world leaders to sign a climate deal in Paris this Earth Day, an agreement intended to reduce our carbon footprint by slowing the rise of greenhouse gases, meaning we can expect a slew of environmental regulations in the coming months. Many liberals praised the agreement, but conservative lawmakers like former presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) denounced the climate deal, wondering how the White House can ignore the threat of radical terrorists in their war on greenhouse gases.
When it does come to protecting our national security, most participants in the Pew survey said the Republican Party does a better job in dealing with the terror threat at home than Democrats (46 percent to 37 percent.)
Let’s see if this translates into the 2016 election results.