Public wants common-sense approaches to reducing carbon emissions
NEW ORLEANS -- A new national poll shows 91% of Americans believe the Gulf Coast is vital to the nation's economy and domestic energy security and the U.S. should invest additional funds in restoring the area.
The America's WETLAND Foundation commissioned the scientific poll of 1,132 respondents conducted August 10-14 by The Kitchens Group, a Florida-based national market research firm. It has a margin of error of 2.9%. The poll focuses on issues critical to sustaining the Gulf Coast region and the health of the Mississippi River.
"We are encouraged by these national poll numbers and feel the expanded scope of the America's WETLAND Foundation, founded nearly 10 years ago to raise public awareness of Louisiana's coastal land loss, may be having a real impact," said R. King Milling of New Orleans, Foundation chair. "Our mission remains to focus the country's attention on this region that continues to face unprecedented environmental and economic calamity."
Protecting the Gulf Coast area that supplies energy to the country should be the responsibility of the federal government, according to 90 percent of respondents, with only 10% saying it is not a federal responsibility.
The poll also showed that 78% of respondents support using wetlands to capture and store carbon dioxide, similar to how forests are used to reduce carbon in the air. In contrast, only 22% feel climate change is not really a significant problem and do not support capturing carbon for this purpose, regardless of the impact on restoring the ecosystem.
Most Americans surveyed believe the federal government should be responsible for restoring and maintaining the environmental health of the Mississippi River, which each year dumps nutrients into the river that flow into the Gulf of Mexico, creating a dead zone that threatens marine life. In 2010, the dead zone covered 8,400 square miles, an area the size of New Jersey.
Poll respondents were divided over national perceptions of the Mississippi River. When asked if they believe most Americans understand that the Mississippi River system, from headwaters to the river's mouth, is vulnerable, 50% said "yes" and 50% said "no." A clear majority - 73% - said it is reasonable to expect we can drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and protect the Gulf Coast environment, with 30% saying it is "definitely possible" and 43% saying "probably possible."
In addition, 97% of respondents supported regional collaboration and felt the 31 states in the Mississippi River watershed should establish cooperative policies and methods to ensure the entire river system is healthy in terms of water quality and supply.
"We are in a political climate of partisan divisions aimed at marginalizing major issues into ideological corners. That creates an impasse when trying to solve major problems," said Valsin A. Marmillion, the America's WETLAND Foundation's managing director. "Our hope is that all interests will utilize these findings to seek cooperative solutions to challenges that the American public views as critical to the region and nation's healthy economic and environmental future.
Pollster Jim Kitchens was surprised by some findings. "There are a couple of things that really jump out at me," Kitchens said. "Seven out of 10 believe you can drill and protect the environment, that you can have both. They don't see it as an "either-or" choice. Another surprise is that 90 percent of the respondents see restoring and protecting the Gulf Coast to be a responsibility of the Federal government. That is astonishing in this era of worrying about the Federal deficit."
Marmillion said the poll results run counter to those who say there is public fatigue with coastal restoration as a national issue, as it shows extremely strong support for protecting the eroding Gulf Coast.
Among the poll's other key findings:
• 84% believe it is the responsibility of the federal government to restore and maintain the environmental health of the Mississippi River, with 16% disagreeing.
• 51% "strongly agreed" and 40% "somewhat agreed" that the Gulf Coast is vital to the nation's economy and domestic energy security and we should invest additional funds to help restore the area, while 6% "somewhat disagreed" and 3% "strongly disagreed."
When asked to rate the importance of protecting or saving selected benefits of the
Mississippi River system, which extends to Pennsylvania to the east and Colorado to the
west, here's how the respondents rated each:
• Fresh water: 99% said important; 1% said not important;
• Clean waters and natural habitats in the Delta, the wetlands and the Gulf of Mexico:
98% said important; 2% said not important.
• Agriculture: 98% said important; 2% not important.
• Natural flood protection: 97% said important, 3% not important.
• Wildlife habitat for migratory birds: 96% said important; 4% not important.
• Areas for domestic energy development: 92% said important, 8% not important.
• Commercial navigation, ports and shipping: 92% said important; 8% not important.
• Outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing: 83% said important, 17% not important.
• Tourism: 79% said important; 21% not important.
A 2008 poll for the America's WETLAND Foundation showed similar results from residents in the Gulf Coast region: nine out of 10 residents of the four America's Energy Coast states - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama - believed it essential that their state governments work together to solve coastal issues, indicating public support for a regional, big-picture approach. In addition, 90 percent of the 1,200 persons polled in 2008 said they believe it is the federal government's responsibility to help protect the coastal region, and 88 percent said they believe it possible to have a protected environment and energy production.
Complete poll results are available on the Foundation's redesigned web site at www.americaswetland.com.
The new site offers easier access and specific ways individuals can get involved with the Foundation's work to build support for projects to stop the region's severe land loss, occurring at the rate of a football field every 50 minutes.
The America's WETLAND Foundation manages the largest, most comprehensive public education campaign in Louisiana's history, raising public awareness of the impact of Louisiana's wetland loss on the state, nation and world. The America's Energy Coast initiative works to sustain the environmental and economic assets of the Gulf Coast region. The initiative is supported by a growing coalition of world, national and state conservation and environmental organizations and has drawn private support from businesses that see wetlands protection as a key to economic growth. For more information, please visit www.futureofthegulfcoast.org or www.americaswetland.com.
America's WETLAND Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that has acted as a neutral arbiter for coastal interests since its inception in 2002, elevating issues facing the Gulf Coast, specifically those of coastal land loss, to regional and national attention.
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