WASHINGTON (CNN) - Six in 10 Americans support a "cap and trade" proposal to cut pollution, according to a new national poll.
Sixty percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey say they favor "cap and trade," a Democratic sponsored plan in which the federal government would limit the amount of greenhouse gases that companies could produce in their factories or power plants. Thirty-seven percent oppose the proposal, which would penalize companies that exceed greenhouse gas limits with fines or by making those businesses pay money to other companies that producer smaller amounts of pollution.
The poll's release Tuesday morning comes as the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works holds a hearing on new "cap and trade" legislation. The bill, sponsored by committee chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-California and Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts), includes provisions to hold down costs to consumers and certain industries. Republicans say the bill would destroy jobs and increase taxes and energy costs for average Americans. The House of Representatives passed a "cap and trade" bill this summer along a party-line vote.
The survey indicates a generational divide, with 68 percent of Americans under age 50 supporting "cap and trade" but those 50 and older split on the issue.
"This is one more example of the growing generation gap that is shaping politics and policy in this country," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Younger Americans voted for Obama and tend to welcome change. Older Americans were less enamored of change in the 2008 election and senior citizens were the only age group that voted for John McCain."
The poll also suggests a partisan divide, with three in four Democrats backing the proposal and nearly six in 10 independents on board as well, but only four in 10 Republicans supporting "cap and trade."
"The support of independents will be crucial to any cap and trade proposal," Holland says. "Independents may not be red or blue, but they appear to be green. Earlier polls indicate that Independents believe in global warming and believe that the government can take steps to curtail the problem. But the environment is not a big priority for Independents, as it is with Democrats."
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted October 16-18, with 1,038 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
From CNN Politics
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Yeah Right, and MoveON.org says that 70% of Americans want a Public Option...why doesn't CNN do one of your ridiculous 'FactChecks' on the accuracy of your polls....except let Rasmussen do the checking.
You people have really got to stop oversampling Blacks and other Democrats...it skews your numbers...everybody knows it...now you know it too.
CNN poll pretty much says how that poll would go. Now, how about a poll with real people in the real world? I'll bet that one won't favor "cap and trade". Fools, zealots and liberals put on their blinders and whatever anything that advances whatever topic they're zoned in on at the moment. But anyone with any common sense at all will want a closer look before leaping onto bandwagons that have the potential to do far more damage than good, like this one.
People who pay their own heating bills had better buy comfortable winter coats to wear inside their homes if libs ram cap-and-trade into our lives.
6 in 10? Are they stupid? Cap and Trade will all but bankrupt the middle class.
I am 100% in favor of reducing carbon emissions. I support reduction of fuel purchases from the middle east. North American purchases are just fine. However, now is not the time to put any extra burdens on companies. If they can do it through another means I would listen. So far the congress has taken good concepts and made BAD legislation. I would sum up Nov – Sept as blown opportunities led by poor management. I like the concepts, hate the legislation.
Hey,
If CNN runs a poll, and most of your "readers" or "users" whatever you like, are liberal, what results do you think you are going to get?
I wish the GOP would come up with ideas and suggestions. This story just reinforces the dogma of the republican party to maintain the status quo; just leave things as they are.... Just like the Flat Earth Society.....
6 in 10 support cap and trade because of their ignorance. Wake up people! Cap and trade's largest supporter is the energy sector. Just another way for the government pay back special interest groups.
This should effectively KILL capitalism and the Constitution...good job America hating liberal democrats...anything Barbara Boxer and John Kerry put together is automatically is designed to destory the free market system and destroy America
This Copenhagen treaty...will China be signing it? They are one of the biggest polluters on the planet...
Cap and trade is only good for the people on this earth that breathe oxygen, and want it to be clean.
Here we go again with the Republicans' fear /hate and obstructionism.
They truly are the party of big business. Just like with health care they will do all they can to defeat or minimize the needed changes in energy.
People we must stand up not only now but in 2010 and tell the republicans no more special interest over the people. Instead of the republicans gaining seats lets have them lose them instead; then maybe they will get it, but I doubt it.
Let us give the Democrats for now and in 2010 all the support they need to get us through theses trouble times given to us by the Republicans and Bush.
Well said jsmith. If Obama signs the Copenhagen treaty, he can add TRAITOR to his short list of accomplishments.
6 in 10 do not read and understand very well,if they support cap and trade.It wll cost jobs,in the oil field,coal industry and require the government to subsidies the green jobs forever , plus drive up the price of energy for everyone. The Democrats have already added langage to the bill that will allow the Administrators of Social Security and Medicare to draw from the General fund,due to the jobs lost if the Cap and Trade passes...... Just what we need more job losses.
And if any of us believe anything that these current repubs say, I say shame on us!
Interesting that every poll that comes out by CNN seems to overwhelmingly support any and all Democrat policies. And they say Fox News is biased. What a joke.
I too am in favor of it provided that products of countries that do not do the same thing must have a large enough tarrif to off set the cost that American companies must endure. If that is not done, American manufacturing will not be able to compete with countries doing nothing to help stop emissions. Make it fair and YES it will work.
Unfortunately we don't live in a democracy.
Instead we have a political system where 41 senators from the minority party can stop the country from moving forward against the wishes of the majority by simply voting to NOT let the Senate vote up or down on proposed laws.
Why isn't one or more of our wealthier citizens coming up with a way to filter these pollutants, and then producing such filters? I would think in this day and age of climate change fears it would be a sure thing. Where's that risk taking American spirit, aside from the Wall Street Banksters, that is?
The Cap and Trade law will be the largest tax increase ever forced on to what used to be a free nation.
New poll. 6 in 10 Americans dont really understand Cap and Trade.
A CNN poll means what when 5 in 10 do not even pay taxes.
I don't know about any caps and tracks but I know I need to keep getting my check and some free helth care so nobody talk bad bout Obmaa and demacrats
I wonder what the poll question was. We all would like less pollution. Here is the catch...the US can't do it by ourselves. The other thing is, the cost of our energy will go up dramatically and will cause job losses. We can't afford more job losses Obummie. You have burdened at least 2 future generations with increased taxes from a stupid stimulus bill that hasn't worked and hasn't reduced unemployment. We need jobs not more government interference.
Now thats a bunch of bull, I live in CT, I asked 16 co-workers and only 2 backed cap and trade, where these folks asked about the cost to us if cap and trade goes in?
Oh, puh-leeze!
Anyone can make ANY poll say what they want .. it's just how you phrase the question(s) involved and who you question.
Phrase it "Do you want the US to do more to control greenhouse gases?" and I'm certain you'll get a majority to say ys.
Phrase it "Are you willing to enact legislation to curtail greenhouse gases, even if it will cost you and your family $2,000 – $5,000+ MORE in electricity, gasoline and overall transportaion costs, per year, when all legislation goes into effect?" and in THIS economic climate ... the overwhelming answer will be "NO!" to "BLEEP! NO!".
Polls mean nothing until you know how the question was asked and who was asked.
Sorry CNN .... but I don't believe what you're trying to sell.
Oh, puh-leeze!
Anyone can make ANY poll say what they want .. it's just how you phrase the question(s) involved and who you question.
Phrase it "Do you want the US to do more to control greenhouse gases?" and I'm certain you'll get a majority to say yes.
Phrase it "Are you willing to enact legislation to curtail greenhouse gases, even if it will cost you and your family $2,000 – $5,000+ MORE in electricity, gasoline and overall transportaion costs, per year, when all legislation goes into effect?" and in THIS economic climate ... the overwhelming answer will be "NO!" to "BLEEP! NO!".
Polls mean nothing until you know how the question was asked and who was asked.
Sorry CNN .... but I don't believe what you're trying to sell.
Six in ten Americans don't understand the ramifications Cap and Trade will have.
1) You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2) What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3) The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4) When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.
5) You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
Doesn't matter. Lobbyists don't like it and are being well paid to fight it. There is no global warming, the earth is flat, there is no evolution and chocolate causes brain damage.
I hear the clock in the background going "Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo".
Did the pollster bother to tell those they polled that certain members of society, Al Gore comes to mind, stand to make a fortune off of this scam and that their costs for heating and cooling their homes could soar? Or that some countries are not even going to participate in this hoax? Instead they will make it easy for businesses to relocate there when this country becomes to costly to do business in. These elites are purposely destroying whatever remains of this economy in an effort to forever wipe out the middle class.
what can be said but this . . . when oBLAHma speaks, it lowers the strength of America . . . and we are deeper in debt.
Cap and Traitor, that's very clever. I suppose you've got a better idea on how to slow global warming. We're all waiting to hear it. Have a nice day!
Cap and Trade is extortion!!! Those that favor such a scam are either ignorant or marxist. The science is in, the earth is actually cooling. Stop the charade and call cap and trade what it is- an attempt at legal extortion from the red states to the blue states.
There are lots of rants about this, but cap and trade is not at all radical. There are numerous examples of this kind of market based system working well to achieve desired results. In this case, the desired result is the overall lowering of emissions.
Consider that without cap and trade, there is no single mechanism available to even quantify our total carbon output, much less lower it. This is not a tax on polluters, it is a way to give them an economic incentive to become less harmful.
By the way, understand that reducing carbon is not the end of the story. There are other ways to pollute than just with carbon dioxide and scrubbing carbon dioxide from the air requires a tremendous amount of water that then needs to be treated. We are still feeling our way towards not polluting ourselves off this planet, but this is a good first step.
I can't for one second believe that clear-headed, rational Americans favor crap and trade.... but for those who seem to think it's such a great idea, they are certainly welcome to pay for all of it! Just don't complain when you realize it's a big scam to benefit wealthy liberals who push green technology (Al Gore, Pelosi, etc.), all the while cruisin' thousands of miles in their gas-sucking jets!
6 in 10? This is complete garbage. I don't know of a single person that approves of this scam.
How about the actual breakdown of how many people polled were Dems/Inds/Reps? Let's be honest about the numbers presented. If 60% are in favor (I'm not one of them, as I believe in a Free Market Economy), how many of the people in favor of the whole are Dems? Just looking for some honesty in reporting. This is part of the reason CNN is falling to the wayside.
This poll can't be correct. Who would support this Cap and Tax plan that will cost tax payers a fortune and cost a lot of jobs. If Obama was really worried about saving the environment he wouldn't be flying all over the country campaigning..............at the tax payers expense and causing all that pollution. What a hypocrite, he never met a tax he didn't like.
The question is really: would you want a cap-and-trade or a carbon tax? I think that the cap-and-trade would spur companies to increace the efficiencies that they can do. It also spurs other businesses to offer services to do the inspections for finding efficiency improvements and renovations to equipment to reduce pollution. The fears that this will be passed onto consumers is limited. We need to have people who have foresite into the future. We can do more with forward thinking. Let us show leadership in this field for once.
If this den of fools does this than it will be 'see ya later U.S.A.'. We had better wise up or there will be nothing left of this great country.
Another poll that confirms 60% of the public supports an Obama policy. The 35% people of "No" might scream loud, but that is no excuse to cater to them. Put through the policies we elected you to do.
The poll question was simple and straight forward, unlike the actual policy and the myriad ways it will negatively impact the cost of goods and energy in the US.
It's like asking if people would like to have milk companies supply free ice cream every day without talking about who will ultimately pay for it as the companies pass on their costs, as health care costs increase from obesity and heart disease, and as prices of milk and grain products increase as demand rises to supply "free" ice cream.
I am sure the polling questions were phrased perfectly to get these numbers. If the questions were "do you support paying an additional $1,000+ per year to decrease global warming," then I'm sure the polling numbers would be more appropriate.
Obama himself said that this would cost ALL of us THOUSANDS of dollars, call them taxes, call them fees, we all are going to pay in many ways so just disrergard the "nobody making less than 250,000" no new taxes nonsense from the liar in chief.
CNN if you were a real news organization you would tell BOTH sides of the story complete with the experts that dispute the Crap and trade idea based on it is garbage and also by posting the Obama and company quotes saying that people will pay more and some utilities will fail to exist???
Nah, stay happily in last place, "other" people will do the job that you folks won't.
Number one for a reason...............
I see that the pool for yet another poll was pulled from the roster of the DNC
Rasmussen disagrees.
"Fifty-six percent (56%) of Americans say they are not willing to pay more in taxes and utility costs to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming."
"Fifty-two percent (52%) of all adults say it is more important to keep the cost of energy as low as possible than it is to develop clean, environmentally friendly sources of energy."
"Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Mainstream Americans say they are not willing to pay higher taxes and utility costs to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming,"
"Americans have mixed feelings about the historic climate change bill that passed the House, but 42% say it will hurt the U.S. economy. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 19% believe the climate change bill passed by the House will help the economy. Fifteen percent (15%) say it will have no impact, and 24% are not sure."
Where the heck did you come up with THIS, CNN????????? Cap and Tax is NOT supported by a majority.... the majority is REASONABLE Americans who want to put an end to tax and spend policies of the liberal elite, as well as their endless apologies to the rest of the world..
...because they have no idea what it means or how it works, and furthermore than have no idea what its like to run a business.
Show me 6 out of 10 people who support "Cap and Trade" and I'll show you 6 very uninformed people. As an Environmental Engineer, I know the real reasons behind this legislation and it's no more than "Environmental Justice" or whatever today's catchphrase may be. I also know the consequences of this legislation on our energy prices and the way we live our lives. Wake up, people, get informed. This is going to ruin our country.
So essentially Republicans are against something that 60% of Americans support? How is that a winning strategy?
Finally CNN isn't lying about poll data, unlike their insistence that the public option is not being supported by the people (FACT: 73% do support it) or that the President is unpopular (FACT: 63% support the President compared to 37% pro-Bush)
Maybe the GOP is losing their media pull
In other words, 6 in 10 don't realize that Cap and Trade is a TAX.
More government propaganda to allow the elite even more control over your life. Want low pollution electricity without green house gases? Build nuclear power generating stations, want cars to run on hydrogen or batteries, make incentives to the auto makers and purchase the patents. If there is any common sense approach to correcting a problem, have no fear, your Government will miss it and burden you with some idiotic program that will tax you on farts and bleed you into financial oblivion.
Can't Wait for 2010 and 2012 to get rid of these traitors!
"The bill, sponsored by committee chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-California and Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts), includes provisions to hold down costs to consumers and certain industries"
That means nationalization, folks. So, if you are an investor, you may want to see which industry will become nationalized like Government Motors was, and invest (or disinvest) accordingly.
If the general populace really understood the cap and trade proposals, it would be opposed by all but the most ignorant. It will do nothing to reduce emmissions worldwide, but will cost US citizens a fortune. This is nothing more than subsidizing ineffective ways of producing energy with effective ways. Once you bankrupt the effective power producers with this pie in the sky plan, enrgy prices will go through the roof, and since Obama has already bankrupted our country it's going to be a tough sell to get these non-effective means of generation subsidized by the American taxpayer.
What garbage. Get a brain!
Anyone who supports C&T is doing so solely by examining the environmental impact and not the CATASTROPHIC impact on our economy and personal finances.
Is a reduction in emmissions a good thing? OF COURSE.
What you morons don't realize is the UNAVOIDABLE transfer of cost from the big companies to your energy bills. These companies will not simply eat the fines, when they can unilaterally increase costs to their customers and potentially earn even more profit.
Read before you vote, people. This is clearly documented and supported by all economists with a pulse.
Yet another bill that will surely lead to the demise of America as we know it.
I know climate change is an issue. However, rather than seriously fix the problems of our industrial and electrical plants, we're telling them it's okay to pollute to a certain point, but if your credits run out, buy more.
And when they buy more credits, guess who is going to get stuck with the bill? Answer: You, the taxpayer.
Do you really think the corporations will eat the cost? Congress seems to think they will. We know differently.
Please think "world government", because that is what Obama and his Foolish Followers are thinking. Obama will bring down the US to the level of Kenya or some other God-forsaken place so we can all be equal, and so the US won't give him problems as a world power when he is leader of the world government. Truly, this is his aim. Better think fast, America, time is growing short on this.
I am tired of the oil companies controlling and telling the american people that we need to drill it is time for them to move aside and allow a more responsible way to produce energy just wait until china starts refining there own oil then they won't be a player at all. why do you think china is buying up all the oil its time for us to go to the next level and produce green energy or we will be in another war
Haaaaaaaaa, How can you even act like a news orginization! Your polls are so fake it makes you lose any credibility you had. This keation clown should be fired. he is off 30% in both the latest polls. If you only ask liberals this is what you will get but it makes it a clear bias poll. This is why nobody watches how hard is that to figure out.
Gee!
I do not know one citzen that is in favor, Why is that? CNN ticker news, by their own poll,
Funny how it comes out and I quote "poll's release Tuesday morning comes as the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works holds a hearing on new "cap and trade" legislation."
The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, I thought we were through with him when he was soundly defeated for the Presidency, guess not, hope his wife is supporting this for her own factories.
Sarah Palin said it best.
"let's make energy more expensive and scarce" What a great idea, bought to you by, The Democrat Party. The party of no ideas other than big govt. regulation and taxes and fraud and waste.
Seriously, this is the MOST ruinious peice of legislation EVER to contemplated by a Congress.
I don't believe your poll for a moment, it's as popular as healthcare, but worse.
"The House of Representatives passed a "cap and trade" bill this summer along a party-line vote."
That is to say, of course, that Conservatives are opposed to any effort to de-toxify the environment. The owners of polluting factories do not live underneath those smokestakes and Conservatives do not care a bit what happens to the middle and lower classes.
As Marie Antoinette might have said, "What, the poor have no air to breathe? Then let them breathe sludge."
(Actually, Antoinette never said "let them eat cake." It was someone else, but I forget who."
Yes, it is about time that we do what is best for the health of the nation and the world, and not just what is best for pockets of a few "fat cats".
Cap and Trade will drive up costs...If the energy companies have to pay extra to cover this "TAX" where do you think the money will come from you and me. I have friend that work with the power company and they estimates cost will go up by at least 35%.
Would like to know the breakdown of those polled........
Sure it does. Let's be sure to qualify the headline that it is a CNN poll.
I see CNN is once again polling the clueless and dim-witted. What does it say when that's the only group of people they can get who have a somewhat favorable opinion of the Yutz in Chief?
This scares me way more then health care reform. Hasn't the globe been cooling for 8 years now or something? I don't think we should take drastic measures until we have more historical data to judge.
Nice Job CNN. You don't bother to tell us your demographics in this poll. I am guessing 2/3 democrat. Also as a follow up why not ask the respondents, "would you approve of a 115% increase in your energy costs to support this bill?" Instead in your stealth article you state "includes provisions to hold down costs to consumers and certain industries". How about an example of that? You must be kidding, right?
... and less than 1 in 10 have any idea what cap and trade really is - a new way to tax manufacturers. It will curb pollution by shutting down factories and putting workers on the street. How many people are in favor of that?