Why Do Some Americans Believe that Climate Change is Not Urgent?

The future of God’s creation may depend on humanity. Are human beings willing to make changes in their behavior to lessen their impact on the earth? Emma Higgs shares “10 Reasons Why Christians Should Care More About Climate Change.” In my own mind, this is a moral issue. Many people do not agree with me, so I wanted to learn more about their views.

Just today, Scientific American said that Hurricane Idalia is stronger because of the warm Gulf waters.

The Pew Research Center reports always catch my attention and often appear in my inbox. The title of this August 9, 2023 article further interested me: “Why Some Americans Do Not See Urgency on Climate Change.” I am eager to know why because I have never questioned that humans are affecting shifts in the climate. The responses provided led me to additional questions.

Research that led to this article was qualitative rather than quantitative. The researchers conducted more in-depth interviews with 32 people who had previously responded in a more extensive survey. In the general survey, these people had said that climate change is not a top priority for the United States. Those administering the survey selected persons in different parts of the country.

Interviewees’ Views

The interviewees shared these questions and thoughts.

• Is climate change one of the earth’s natural cycles and do humans really have anything to do with it?
• Why do people present climate change in such an alarming way?
• The national news media is not a credible source for climate information because they have their own agendas.
• Facts from scientists carry more weight because scientists are experts on the topic. Are the organizations funding their research biased?.
• The role of government is to protect the environment without encroaching on individuals’ choices and freedoms.

I thought that these responses were very interesting and made more sense to me than I anticipated.

Are any changes in the climate due to natural causes or cycles?

Without human beings, would the climate have warmed naturally? I have never asked myself whether any cyclic event is part of the change. If so, does human activity simply make climate change worse? For all I know, the earth was in a warming trend prior to the industrial revolution and just moved along the trajectory at a faster pace because of people’s treatment of the earth.

A related issue for some of the interviewees is that if humans have not contributed a great deal to climate change, adjustments to human behavior will not make a big difference.

Why do people present climate change in such an alarming way?

Treating climate change as an emergency leads some people to be more skeptical about the information. In fact, “skeptic(al)” appeared 21 times in the Pew Research article. I have thought of climate change as an emergency and never questioned the urgent presentation.

The national media is not a reliable way to learn about climate change.

Most of the interviewees believed that agendas fuel national media outlets which makes their information untrustworthy. One man questioned whether newspapers and networks stretch the truth to gain viewers. Even though I realize that media is a business, I have never researched the companies that own the various news channels I watch or read. The goal of television is to attract viewers who watch the ads and buy those products. The advice that bad news sells better than good news is evident. Could climate change boost ratings?

Facts from scientists carry more weight because scientists are experts on the topic. Do organizations funding scientific research bias what they say?

Scientists have credibility because of their study and work. Some believed that even scientists have agendas. (When did an agenda cease being a bulleted list of issues or topics to be discussed at a meeting?) I never questioned that scientists were not being fully truthful when discussing the environment. It is true that institutions that provide research funding may have basic assumptions and give money to scientists who do specific types of research. Research proposals are so detailed that a funding organization can deny a proposal that is not in line with its priorities.

The role of government is to protect the environment without encroaching on individuals’ choices and freedoms.

The interviewees used electric cars as an example of the middle ground between the government’s environmental protection and individual choices. They pointed out the reality that many people could not afford an electric car or have room to charge it. One person pointed out that other minerals are used with electric cars and could we overuse the minerals to slow pollution? Being forced to change was unpopular.

I think the cost of climate change prevention is an important question.

My Reflections

The points made by people who do not think that climate change is an urgent issue impressed me. I want to know more about whether the earth is currently in a warming or cooling cycle. I am also intrigued by the assumption that the national media is biased so is untrustworthy. Even though I might want to pursue these issues further, I do think climate change is an urgent issue. I do feel that it is my Christian duty to help fight it.