Three-Quarters of U.S. Adults Agree Environmental Standards Cannot Be Too High and Continuing Improvements Must Be Made Regardless of Cost

Three in four U.S. adults (74%) agree that "protecting the environment is so important that requirements and standards cannot be too high, and continuing environmental improvements must be made regardless of cost." In addition, a plurality of adults (47%) agree that "there is too little government regulation and involvement in the area of environmental protection." These attitudes are significantly more pro-environment than in 2000, the last time Harris Interactive examined these issues.

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll of 1,217 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive^® between August 9 and 16, 2005. It is important to note that this survey was conducted prior to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, events which have placed some additional focus on environmental issues.

Major findings of the survey include:

• While the proportion of adults who agree that it is important to protect and improve the environment regardless of cost has increased over the last five years (66% in 2000 vs. 74% now), a significant proportion of the public currently disagrees with this statement (25%).
• This year, Democrats (85%) are more likely to agree with this statement than Independents (75%) or Republicans (60%).
• Liberals (82%) and moderates (77%) are more likely to agree with this statement than conservatives (69%).
• Just fewer than half of U.S. adults (47%) think the amount of government regulation and involvement in the area of environmental protection is too little, while one-third (32%) says it is about the right amount and one-fifth (19%) believes it is too much. The percentage of adults believing the amount of regulation and involvement is too little has increased since 2000 when 39 percent of adults felt this way.
• Currently, Democrats (61%) are more likely to believe there is too little government oversight with respect to environmental protection than Independents (55%) or Republicans (23%).
• At the same time, a higher percentage of liberals (67%) than moderates (56%) or conservatives (27%) feels there is too little government regulation and involvement.
• According to U.S. adults, water pollution and air pollution are the top environmental priorities for the nation. When asked to rate the priority of seven environmental issues on a scale of one to 10 where one means "a low priority" and 10 means "a high priority,", about half (52%) of adults rate water pollution a "9" or "10" while 48 percent rate air pollution this high of a priority.
• The second tier of priorities includes global warming, ozone depletion, and depletion of forest lands (each rated a "9" or "10" by 41% of adults).
• Recycling more material (39% rate it "9" or "10") and insisting that other nations adhere to our level of environmental standards (26% rate it a "9" or "10") trail as high priorities.
• Just one of eight groups examined is credited with doing more than their share to help reduce environmental problems.
• A plurality of adults (42%) believe environmental groups are doing more than their share to help reduce environmental problems. On the other side of the coin, 71 percent believe large corporations are doing less than their share.
• The general public does not escape its own wrath as 63 percent of adults say the general public does less than its share. Majorities also feel local businesses (50%), the president (53%), and Congress (57%) are doing less than their share.
• Conversely, the public has mixed views on the role of state or local government. Forty-six percent say they are doing less than their share, 43 percent believe their efforts are about right, and 10 percent believe they are doing more than their share. The media also receives mixed reviews (44% less than, 37% about right, and 18% more than their share).
• A majority of all U.S. adults (58%) describe themselves as sympathetic to environmental concerns, while 12 percent say they are active environmentalists, four percent are unsympathetic, and 24 percent consider themselves neutral. These figures are relatively unchanged in the surveys dating back to 1995 (53% sympathetic, 11% environmentalist, 5% unsympathetic, and 29% neutral).

"Do you agree or disagree with this statement: Protecting the environment is so important that requirements and standards cannot be too high, and continuing environmental Improvements must be made regardless of cost. And is that strongly or somewhat agree or disagree?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Do you agree or disagree with this statement: Protecting the environment is so important that requirements and standards cannot be too high, and continuing environmental Improvements must be made regardless of cost. And is that strongly or somewhat agree or disagree?"

Base: All Adults

"Do you think there is too much, too little, or about the right amount of government regulation and involvement in the area of environmental protection?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Do you think there is too much, too little, or about the right amount of government regulation and involvement in the area of environmental protection?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Now, I am going to read a list of environmental problems. For each problem, please tell me HOW HIGH OF A PRIORITY you feel that problem is, using a scale of 1 to 10, where "1" means the problem is a low priority and "10" means the problem is a high priority."

Base: All Adults

"For each of the following, please tell me if you feel they've done more than their share, just about right, or less then their share to help reduce environmental problems."

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Do you think of yourself as an active environmentalist, sympathetic to environmental concerns, neutral, or unsympathetic to environmental concerns?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States between August 9 and 16, 2005 among a nationwide cross section of 1,217 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the various sub-groups listed above is higher and varies. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

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