Subject: Forwarded: 1600--Market Research: The Future of the Environment
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments:
From: Dave Iverson:R04A
Date: Feb 26,91 8:42 AM
** CARING FOR THE LAND **
As the war in Kuwait winds down, we will be left to ponder the fate
of the Middle East regarding both the environment and the people.
Here at home we must consider, once again, the fate of our
environment and our people. Boston-based Opinion Research Service
recently unveiled an assessment of our public pulse on environmental
issues early in 1989. The mood of the country then was somber, as it
will be again, I suspect, in a few days when we add recent
environmental disasters - not the least of which are 200+ burning oil
facilities in Kuwait - to those we've piled up in the last few
decades. Thanks to Richard Lindeborg and Beverly Carroll for the two
page summary of public opinion that follows. Dve.
Previous comments:
From: DIRECTOR,PAO
Date: Feb 22,91 10:55 AM
Can research prevent environmental deterioration? What will happen
to managers who pollute the air or water? What do people see for our
environment in the next 50 years?
THE MARKET RESEARCH SECTION OF THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE PRESENTS THE
THIRD IN A SERIES OF SUMMARIES FROM THE AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION INDEX
1989, A RECENTLY RELEASED SOURCE OF PUBLIC OPINION DATA. PLEASE PASS
THIS MATERIAL ON TO ANY PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALISTS, LINE OFFICERS, OR
STAFF OFFICERS YOU FEEL COULD MAKE USE OF IT IN THEIR DECISION MAKING.
The clash between public land acquisition and private property rights
-------========X========-------
The Future of the Environment* February 26, 1991
Richard Lindeborg, Program Analyst
Beverly Carroll, Program Analyst
USDA Forest Service
Public Affairs Office
Market Research Section
Management Implications
-- Environmental research programs have
a base of public support as one way
to minimize environmental
deterioration. This support is
rather unfocused and does not readily
translate into advocacy of higher
taxes to support research efforts.
-- Management activities that cause air
or water pollution or which release
toxic materials will quickly run
afoul of the existing public opinion
that these environmental problems
have been getting worse and will
continue to deteriorate.
SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE--In 1988,
more than four-fifths of Americans (82%) felt their
children or grandchildren would face severe air and
water pollution 25-50 years from now. This is up from
just over two-thirds of Americans in 1974 and 1980.
Nearly three-quarters felt their children would face
congestion of cities and highways, shortage of water
supplies, and the greenhouse effect. Three in five say
that overpopulation will be a problem.
(The Public Pulse, The Roper
Organization, June 1989)
LOSING GROUND--Only 32% of Americans feel we are making
progress in controlling pollution, while 42% feel we are
losing ground. AIDS is the only major problem Americans
are even close to feeling we are making progress on.
The environment is listed as one of the two most serious
problems by fewer Americans (13%) than drugs (54%);
poverty, hunger and homelessness (35%); crime (33%), and
AIDS (31%).
(Times Mirror Co.,
January 1989, N=2,048)
ENVIRONMENT POOR TO FAIR--Two-thirds of Americans say
the environment is in poor or fair condition (64%).
Most people (81%) feel the world will be worse off
environmentally in 50 years if we go on the way we are
now. Nearly all (97%) say we should be doing more to
protect the environment. Four-fifths (81%) say they are
at least somewhat willing to pay higher taxes to protect
the environment.
(Harris Poll, April 1989, N=1,253)
___________________
*American Public Opinion Index 1989. Opinion Research Service,
Boston, MA. 1990.
GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS--Nearly two-thirds (65%) of
Americans think a new, clean energy source will be
developed by the turn of the century. Almost as many
(61%) think there will also be a major change in the
earth's climate by then.
(Gallup Poll, Mirror of America,
January 1, 1990, N=1,234)
TECHNOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT--Nearly two-thirds of
Americans think the United States in the 1990s will be
thought of as more of a leader in terms of our
scientific research. Nearly three-quarters (71%) are
confident that developments in technology will be of
benefit to the environment. On the other hand, two
thirds (65%) say the next decade will result in more
pollution of the environment. Most people think several
major environmental problems will get worse in the
1990s: Pollution of the oceans (72%), air pollution
(69%), industrial toxic wastes (47%), and acid rain
(58%). They are fairly evenly split on whether the
effects of pesticides and radon gas in homes will get
better or worse. When asked which problem they fear the
most, people elevate air pollution to number one (30%)
and industrial toxic waste to number two (28%). They
drop pollution of the oceans to third place (12%). Acid
rain is fourth with 10%. More than half (56%) feel the
greenhouse effect will become a major problem for the
world in the 1990s.
(Hearst
Corporation,
[1989],
N=1,001)
MINNESOTANS AND THE ENVIRONMENT--Nearly three-quarters
of the people in Minnesota feel air pollution (72%) and
water pollution (71%) will get worse in the next ten
years. Two-thirds feel global warming (63%) and
hazardous wastes (66%) will get worse.
St. Paul Press and Dispatch,
February 1989, N=762)
POLLUTION IS ON THE INCREASE