Global-warming beliefs

A recent poll released by Stanford University, New Scientist magazine and Resources for the Future claims a majority of American citizens support government-imposed standards on energy and fuel companies as opposed to other greenhouse-gas reducing policies.

The online survey allowed participants to select one of three different policies to address global warming in both the fuel and energy sectors: low-carbon standards, emissions taxes and cap-and-trade.

The 1,491-person poll was conducted by Knowledge Networks, and gives policy makers an idea as to what legislation the public will support. Here are some of the results:

Overall, 85 percent of respondants said they believe global warming likely has been happening.

Faced with choosing only one policy, 39 percent saw low-carbon standards on electrical power as the best solution to global warming. (The standards would require companies to use alternative energy sources such as wind or solar power.)

Of the most popular policy, 73 percent would support government-mandated standards on electrical power generators in exchange for supporting a $10 increase in a typical monthly bill.

For the full report visit http://environment.stanford.edu/news (click on the link for the 2007 Climate Poll).