The gap between Capitol Hill and Main Street is huge when it comes to the so-called "cap-and-trade" legislation being considered in Congress. So wide, in fact, that few voters even know what the proposed legislation is all about.

Given a choice of three options, just 24% of voters can correctly identify the cap-and-trade proposal as something that deals with environmental issues. A slightly higher number (29%) believe the proposal has something to do with regulating Wall Street while 17% think the term applies to health care reform. A plurality (30%) have no idea.

Democrats are pushing the legislation on Capitol Hill, but Democrats around the country are a bit less likely than Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party to know that the concept has something to do with the environment. This helps explain why some Democratic pollsters have advised the president to back away from the term cap-and-trade to describe what he wants to accomplish.

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There is always political danger when major legislation is enacted without engaging the public in the debate. The New York Times reports that Rep. Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who is pushing cap-and-trade legislation, is now facing challenges from within his own party on the issue and that many want to “turn the Energy and Commerce Committee's attention over to health care.”

That is clearly the direction most American voters would like to go. Sixty-nine percent (69%) say health care issues are more important while just 15% say global warming is a higher priority.

While the public view is clear, opinion among the Political Class is more evenly divided: 45% say health care is more important while 38% name global warming. Seven percent (7%) of Americans belong to the Political Class, and another seven percent (7%) lean in that direction.

Earlier surveys have shown a steady decline in the number who believe that human activity is the primary cause of global warming.

Broadly speaking, cap-and-trade proposals involve having the government set limits on what pollutants can be emitted. Then it auctions off permits for certain emissions and allows companies to trade the permits as needed.

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