US More Concerned about Local than Global

In a recent study, an interesting factoid has been discovered. According to a survey of 1,000 American adults, local and national environmental issues are of more concern, than global issues like global warming and climate change.

“The survey’s core result is that people care about their communities and express the desire to see government action taken toward local and national issues,” said David Konisky, who conducted the survey.

A policy research scholar at the Institute of Public Policy, Konisky is also an assistant professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. In polling, Konisky enquired about peoples level of concern for the environment, and their preferences for what action the government should take on a wide variety of environmental issues.

“People are hesitant to support efforts concerning global issues even though they believe that environmental quality is poorer at the global level than at the local and national level. This is surprising given the media attention that global warming has recently received and reflects the division of opinion about the severity of climate change.”

Konisky’s survey found that a vast majority of respondents expressed concern about the environment, but were more community minded in their concerns. The top three issues that respondents wanted governments to address were protecting community drinking water, reducing pollution in US water ways, and improving urban air quality.

“Americans are clearly most concerned about pollution issues that might affect their personal health, or the health of their families,” Konisky said.

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