Public opinion and conservation funding
This presentation examines the results of public opinion surveys on environmental issues and some of the main sources of funding for conservation in the West: the federal government, ballot measures, and philanthropy.
Download Slides: Environmental Politics in the American West (1958 downloads ) Download Notes: Environmental Politics in the American West (2349 downloads ) Download Data: Environmental Politics in the American West (1685 downloads )Key points: public opinion
- The environment doesn’t rank high on the public’s agenda, but a majority of Americans remain concerned about a wide variety of environmental problems
- The public agrees with many of the environmental movement’s policy goals, but only about a fifth of Americans identify themselves as active participants
- The Great Recession has shifted public opinion away from environmental concerns over the past few years
- Air and water pollution tend to be the most worrisome environmental issues
- Disasters, such as the BP oil spill, can cause spikes of interest in environmental issues
- Who’s in the White House can influence perceptions of environmental quality: the 2008 election led more Americans to say things are improving
- Americans remain split on global warming, especially along party lines, with a significant percentage saying the threat is exaggerated and will not affect their lives
Key points: conservation funding
- Federal funding
- In real terms, the budgets of major environmental agencies have been fairly steady over the past decade
- The distribution among different programs also tends to remain relatively constant
- Ballot measures
- Open-space bonds and other conservation measures usually pass at the polls, but considerably fewer have been put to voters during the economic downturn
- Philanthropic
- The distribution of funding by issue area changes significantly from year to year
- Energy and climate-related funding saw big increases from 2007 to 2009 (the most recent data available)