Environment
How Religious Americans Think About The Environment, Natural Disasters, and More
[04.22.2012]Yesterday was Earth Day – what better excuse to meditate on religious (and non-religious) Americans’ varying perspectives on environmental issues? After all, nearly 6-in-10 (59%) of Americans say they hear clergy at their place of worship speak about the environment. From natural disasters to global warming to environmental policy, here are a few tidbits for your Earth Day enjoyment: Environmental Stewardship: Rick Santorum made headlines earlier in the election cycle… more
Santorum’s Climate Change Theology Doesn’t Align With Other Catholics
[02.21.2012]With a week left until the Michigan primary, Rick Santorum is neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney, in a state that will test Santorum’s ability to connect with blue-collar voters. Perhaps in an attempt to up the ante with this crucial demographic, Santorum went on the offensive this weekend, attacking President Obama’s “radical environmentalism,” which, according to Santorum, is based in the president’s misinterpretation of the Bible. Santorum outlined his vision of… more
White Evangelical Protestants, Tea Partiers, and the Climate Change Debate
[10.25.2011]Earlier this week, Eugene Robinson wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post, lambasting the “neo-Luddites” (read: politicians) who he says are turning the GOP into an anti-science party. He zeroes in on climate change skeptics, citing a recent study by Richard Muller, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, who along with his team at the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, “rigorously explored the specific objections raised by skeptics… more
Millennials Leave Their Churches Over Science, Lesbian & Gay Issues
[10.06.2011]Churches are worried, and with good reason. A new study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research released last week reported that over the past decade, America’s congregations have lost members and suffered a decrease in “spiritual vitality,” brought on, in part, by ageing congregations. And the Barna Group, a Christian-affiliated polling organization, recently completed a five-year project which has morphed into a book called You Lost Me: Why Young… more
Tea Party Diverges from Republicans on Some Environmental Issues, Says Yale Survey
[10.05.2011]Following on the heels of the latest PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey, which tackled the thorny issues of climate change and evolution in the 2012 elections, Yale University’s Project on Climate Change Communication released a special report, Politics & Global Warming: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the Tea Party, co-authored by Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale University and Edward Maibach and Connie Roser-Renouf of George Mason University. Although it’s not quite the “first”… more
“Global Warming” vs. “Climate Change”
[03.07.2011]A new study released by the University of Michigan confirmed results of a 2009 poll conducted by Public Religion Research on behalf of Faith in Public Life and Oxfam America. The Michigan study found: Republicans were less likely to endorse that the phenomenon [of global climate change] is real when it was referred to as “global warming” (44.0%) rather than “climate change” (60.2%), whereas Democrats were unaffected by question wording… more
Scientists & Evangelicals Join Forces on Climate Change
[11.19.2009]On Tuesday, November 17th, Rich Cizik drew on Public Religion Research findings in his testimony before a gathering of climate scientists and evangelical leaders who met with Senators on Capitol Hill to speak with one voice about the challenge of climate change.
Climate Change and Global Poverty Survey
[05.05.2009]A new survey conducted by Public Religion Research finds that a majority of Americans believe that the earth is getting warmer and that the U.S. has a responsibility to address climate change. Nearly 7-in-10 Americans and solid majorities of every religious group, including 71% of Catholics and nearly two-thirds (64%) of white evangelicals, believe there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been increasing over the last… more