Opinion Shifting on Climate Change.

A new poll shows the number of Pennsylvanians skeptical of climate change has doubled over the past two years. In a Poll conducted by Muhlenberg College for the Allentown Morning Call finds 31% of Pennsylvania residents think global warming is a hoax. That’s about twice the number of people who were skeptical of climate change in a statewide 2008 survey. PennEnvironment CEO Jan Jarrett thinks that may be due to a PR blitz launched by special interests that would lose money if Congress enacts legislation aimed at curbing global warming. She says lawmakers in Washington are serious about trying to reduce the country’s CO2 emissions and increase the green energy sector, “However, those kinds of things do threaten the oil and gas industries, and the coal industries, which have launched an all-out attack on the science of climate change.” Jarrett says special interests are succeeding in casting doubt on what she calls overwhelming scientific evidence showing the earth is warming. Jarrett’s currently engaged in an ongoing email back-and-forth with Matt Brouillette of the conservative Commonwealth Foundation, who’s trying to set up a debate to argue the legitimacy of climate change. Brouillette says, “The reality is that everybody believes there is climate change. That we are constantly in a state of climate change. Things are warming, things are cooling. The question ultimately comes down to, what role does man contribute to this, and what policies could be implemented? And what are the costs and benefits of those policies?” He says he is convinced the scientific community is far from settled on whether or not human activity is changing the earth’s temperature.