Karen Feridun, co-founder of the Better Path Coalition, left, and Greg Schwedock, head of product and technology of Climate Clock, unveil the climate clock that will sit at the capitol for the rest of the legislative session. The clock was unveiling at a Pennsylvania Climate Convergence press conference in the East Wing of the Capitol complex on Monday, June 13, 2022
Jeremy Long / WITF
Jeremy Long / WITF
Karen Feridun, co-founder of the Better Path Coalition, left, and Greg Schwedock, head of product and technology of Climate Clock, unveil the climate clock that will sit at the capitol for the rest of the legislative session. The clock was unveiling at a Pennsylvania Climate Convergence press conference in the East Wing of the Capitol complex on Monday, June 13, 2022
A new statewide poll shows three quarters of Pennsylvanians accept that global warming is happening.
It’s the highest level of acceptance since Muhlenberg College pollsters started asking the question 15 years ago.
The poll included more than 400 people statewide and has a margin of error of 5.5 percent.
More than half of respondents said climate change is a very serious problem, while another quarter said it was somewhat serious.
Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said human activity is the main driver of global warming. Another 24 percent said it was a combination of human activity and natural patterns.
Scientists who worked on the United Nations’ climate reports say humans are indisputably causing climate change.
The Muhlenberg College poll found feelings on global warming remain partisan. Ninety-two percent of Democrats polled said there is solid evidence for climate change, while only 45 percent of Republicans agreed.
Though global climate experts say the world must dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst effects of warming, the poll found people statewide are divided on fracking.
Natural gas drilling can release methane during the process. Burning gas produces carbon dioxide.
Forty-eight percent of those polled said they support extraction, while 44 percent are opposed.
The share of people who said drilling will bring more benefits to Pennsylvania has fallen ten percentage points since 2012, to 44 percent. Four in ten said it will bring more problems for the state, up ten percent since 2012.
Most respondents, 86 percent, said fracking is very or somewhat important to Pennsylvania’s economy.
