Nice post and with a couple of tweaks, I'll let it stand. Read this:
A National Survey of Republicans and Republican-*‐Leaning Independents on Energy and Climate Change | Yale Project on Climate Change Communication
Yale's actual published study:
http://environment.yale.edu/climate-communication/files/Republican_Views_on_Climate_Change.pdf
Notice that most Republicans polled (52%) believe climate change is happening, while 26 percent believe it is not, and 22 percent say they “don’t know.”
A large majority (77%) of Republicans say the United States should use more renewable energy sources (solar, wind & geothermal) in the future. Among those who support expanded use of renewable energy, nearly 7 out of 10 think the U.S. should increase the use of renewable energy “immediately”.
Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents prefer clean energy as the basis of America’s energy future and say the benefits of clean energy, such as energy independence (66%), saving resources for our children and grandchildren (57%), and providing a better life for our children and grandchildren (56%) outweigh the costs, such as more government regulation (42%) or higher energy prices (31%). By a margin of 2 to 1, respondents say America should take action to reduce our fossil fuel use.
Only one third of respondents agree with the Republican Party’s position on climate change, while about half agree with the party’s position on how to meet America’s energy needs. A large majority of respondents say their elected representatives are unresponsive to their views about climate change."
^ In other words, you'll find a lot of passion for clean renewable energy and recycling among conservatives and independents in the general population despite the recalcitrance of GOP politicians which is itself slowly changing (especially with respect to state and local level GOP politicians). Read:
Could a GOP Congress Back Renewable Energy? | Institutional Investor
Now, to be honest, scientists do not presently have a final consensus on whether or not global warming is occurring. Most argue for it. Some do not.
What the scientific evidence does show is that human activity is not the primary driver. For example, ice and sediment cores show that over the past four million years, the global climate has oscillated many times. The changes are caused by variations in Earth’s orbit. Each cycle lasts about 100,000 years with an ice age typically taking up 90,000 of those years, and a global warming effect, the other 10,000 years. Many natural phenomena significantly affect the global climate. Atmospheric conditions are impacted by tectonic activity, erosion, and changes in Earth’s biomass. Etc...
But even what human activity does contribute to global warming is grossly misunderstood by the left on forums such as this. For example, while politicians and liberal activists focus on the effects of fossil fuel burning no one seems to mention that the breeding and domestication of cows and cultivation of rice do much more harm.
The
Journal of Quaternary Science stated that over the last 8,000 years cattle farming and rice crop cultivation alone have nearly doubled the quantity of methane in the atmosphere. At the same time, deforestation has increased the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide. Both methane and carbon dioxide are greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat.
But contrary to the typical liberal's claims, human activities also have cooling effects. The release of aerosols and particulates actually blocks out sunlight and generates light-reflecting cloud layers, especially over densely populated and highly industrialized regions where pollution is loosely, if at all, regulated.
The bottom line is that there are dozens of physical, chemical, and biological processes that contribute to both heating and cooling the planet. When any one of these factors gets out of balance with the others, Earth is at risk of losing its optimal climate for human civilization. This delicate balancing act of multiple and diverse natural processes and human activities gives us reason to be cautious.
But to suggest that we can stop global warming simply by cutting back on fossil fuel combustion and altering our industrial processes is naive at best. In fact, if we ignore one or more of certain mechanisms that contribute to either global warming or cooling, our attempted solutions could actually make matters worse.
So first and foremost; us conservatives and independents whom are for renewable clean energy and recycling as we move forward are for them because of their benefits
apart from "global warming" which we view as more of a natural cyclic phenomena which human activity both contributes to and helps prevent.
I help this provides you a better understanding.
P.S. Again, note that 52% of Republicans believe the earth is warming and 77% of them support clean renewable energy.
