Sunday, July 25, 2010  Why Did Climate Change Mitigation Become
a "Wedge" Issue Between Republicans and Democrats?  Will Al
Gore's Nobel Prize end up causing climate change? Huh? As
climate change mitigation efforts and "Ivy League Democrats"
became synonyms, opposing such legislation has become a
political litmus test for being a "true" Republican. Did this
have to happen?  Some facts:  "Dunlap and McCright (2008) report
that in 2008 there was 34 percentage point gap between Democrats
and Republicans in their agreement with a statement that the
effects of global warming have already begun, up from a 4
percentage point gap in 1997. The 2008 National Environmental
Scorecard of the League of Conservation Voters gives the House
Democratic leadership a score of 95 (out of a best score of 100)
and the Republican leadership a score of 3. A 2009 Pew survey
found a 23 percentage gap between Democrat and Republican
agreement with the statement that people should be willing to
pay higher prices to protect the environme