Three fourths of Americans consider global warming to be a serious problem, according to a poll taken after the Bush administration announced it will pull out of an international agreement aimed at combating climate change. More than four in 10 said they consider the problem very serious and three in 10 said it was fairly serious. In addition, two-thirds said President Bush should develop a plan to reduce the emission of the so-called greenhouse gases that may contribute to global warming, according to the CNN-Time poll released on Sunday. By a 3-1 margin, Americans said they believe emissions of gases like carbon dioxide are causing global temperature increases. Three-fourths of Democrats and half of Republicans said they believe such emissions are causing temperatures to increase. People were evenly split on whether they would be willing to pay 25 cents more per gallon for gasoline to reduce pollution and global warming. A decade ago, six of 10 were willing to pay that much more. A majority, 55 percent, said the government should require improvements in fuel efficiency for cars and trucks, even if it means higher prices and smaller vehicles. Four in 10 disagreed. The poll of 1,025 adults was taken March 21-22 and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Bureau Report