Since the flurry of activity surrounding its passage by the House in late June, little has been heard about the historic climate change bill aimed at curbing global warming. But the Senate will be tackling the controversial measure when it returns to Washington next week.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that public sentiment on the bill, which opponents claim will have a negative overall impact on the U.S. economy, is largely unchanged over the last two months.

Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans favor the climate change bill, while 40% are opposed to it. However, the antis feel more strongly: Twenty-six percent (26%) Strongly Oppose the bill versus 10% who Strongly Favor it.

Nearly one-in-four adults (24%) are not sure whether passage of the bill is a good idea or not. These findings are virtually the same as in late June.

Women favor the bill more strongly than men. Older voters are more likely to oppose it.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democrats support the climate control bill, while the identical number (58%) of Republicans and the plurality (47%) of adults not affiliated with either party oppose it. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Republicans Strongly Oppose, while 20% of Democrats Strongly Favor the bill.

Given the limited coverage of the climate change legislation and the dominance of the health care debate over the summer, these numbers could change significantly as the legislative debate unfolds.

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In May, only 24% of voters could correctly identify the “cap-and-trade” plan, as the climate control bill was more generally known earlier, as something that deals with environmental issues.

Just 35% of adults now believe the climate control measure will hurt the economy, down seven points from the previous survey. But the 15% who now say it will help the economy is also down four from June. Twenty-one percent (21%) say the legislation will have no impact, and 29% are not sure.

Among investors, 19% say it will help the economy, 37% that it will hurt, and 17% predict no impact.
Unchanged is how much more Americans are willing to pay each year in taxes and utility costs to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming. Fifty-six percent (56%) aren’t willing to pay anything more, the same number who felt that way in late June.

Twenty-two percent (22%) of adults are willing to pay $100 more a year, and just 10% are willing to pay more than that. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of all Americans say creating jobs is more important than taking steps to stop global warming. Only 22% put curbing global warming as more important, with 14% unsure. These numbers, too, are little changed from the earlier survey.

Given the strong belief that job creation is more important and the claim of critics that the climate change bill may actually cost jobs, the fate of the legislation may be determined by how well its supporters can address economic concerns.

Right now, just 42% of Americans say they are following news stories about the climate change bill at least somewhat closely, with 18% following very closely. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not following news about the bill at all.

While most voters regard global warming as a serious problem, 47% now blame it on long-term planetary trends while 36% say human activity is the cause. Except for June when the two points of view were virtually tied, voters have been trending away from blaming human activity since January.

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