Climate change concerns evaporate in US polls

Donald Trump would be delighted if Biden and Harris make climate change a leading issue.

Climate change is the luxury fear people wear on their sleeves when they can afford it. It’s a piece of fashion. Optional and discarded at a moments notice.

Amid COVID-19, Americans don’t care about climate change anymore

Will Johnson, Fortune Magazine

In a survey we at the Harris Poll conducted last December, American adults said climate change was the number one issue facing society. Today, it comes in second to last on a list of a dozen options, ahead of only overpopulation. Among Gen X men, in fact, more than third dismiss climate change as unimportant. COVID-19 and the recession have, of course, reordered priorities around the world.

We asked a panel of U.S. adults a series of questions about today’s most crucial issues, environmental policy options, and their own behavior. In all three categories, I was personally surprised and discouraged to discover that our devotion to the world around us is flagging.

The pandemic is undoing years of activism:

And when the pandemic ends—or at least is suitably controlled—American adults say they’ll behave in ways that […]