WILL PAY FOR JOBS, MAYBE FOR CLIMATE

Poll: We'll pay to avert climate change if it creates jobs
Steven Thomma, December 9, 2009 (McClatchy Newspapers)

"…A majority of Americans are willing to pay more for a [climate change] solution only if it would create "green" jobs in the United States, according to a McClatchy-Ipsos poll…Take away the benefit of new jobs, and the willingness to pay a little more on their monthly electric or other bills drops.

"Just half the country is willing to pay higher prices to cut the emissions of greenhouse gases if it doesn't also create jobs, and that slender support turns into outright opposition if the price rises from $10 a month to $25 a month…"

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"A solid majority of Americans, 70 percent, thinks that global warming is real, though a sizable minority, 28 percent, says it isn't…61 percent think that it's happening because of the burning of fossil fuels, while 34 percent say it's mostly a natural phenomenon.

"Americans are closely divided on the proposed solution pending in Congress, a "cap and trade" system aimed at cutting U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases from smokestacks and tailpipes… 52 percent of Americans support the legislation, which has passed the House of Representatives but is stalled in the Senate. Forty-one percent oppose the measure."

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"A solid majority, 69 percent, said they'd support it even if it cost them $10 a month if it created a "significant" number of American jobs. Twenty-nine percent said they'd still oppose the legislation…That majority support dropped to 60 percent if the costs rose to $25 a month, and opposition rose to 36 percent.

"How much the legislation would cost is a subject of debate among partisans. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it would cost the average U.S. household $90 a year in lost purchasing power in 2012, rising to $925 a year by 2050…Whether it would create or kill jobs also is heavily debated. The CBO said it would [likely have only a small impact over time]…"