Americans Worry Least About Global Warming

Al Gore, you may now retire in shame.  Jim Geraghty tells us that Americans just haven't bought the globaloney hype:

I’ve never understood why the environmental movement so wholeheartedly embraced discussing a problem that is unproven and far-off in the future, like global warming, instead of discussing problems in the here and now, like water pollution, air pollution, etc. It would seem that is indeed where the public’s mind is, these days. Gallup: “With Earth Day about a month away, Americans tell Gallup they worry the most about several water-related risks and issues among nine major environmental issues. They worry least about global warming and loss of open spaces.”

Al, I might suggest you consider moving to an energy-gulping mansion in Europe where they've bought into the whole globaloney thing. They'll still worship you there.

Meanwhile, the same people who are futilely pushing global warming are stopping clean energy projects around the country:

The Obama administration has set a target of having 80 percent of America’s electricity come from “clean energy sources” by 2035, but ironically one of the biggest obstacles to this goal could come from within the environmental movement itself.

From coast to coast, efforts to build everything from wind farms to solar plants has run afoul of local environmental groups and the “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) phenomenon. Pro-environmental journals, such as the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, as well as business groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have each cataloged this trend.

“Often, many of the same groups urging us to think globally about renewable energy are acting locally to stop the very same renewable energy projects that could create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Bill Kovacs, senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, wrote in the introduction of the group’s recent “Project, No Project” report. “NIMBY activism has blocked more renewable projects than coal-fired power plants by organizing local opposition, changing zoning laws, opposing permits, filing lawsuits, and using other long delay mechanisms, effectively bleeding projects dry of their financing.”

Recent examples include environmentalist lawsuits seeking to block construction of a solar power plant in California’s Mojave Desert due to threats to the endangered desert tortoise and environmentalists suing to block the construction of a 75-wind turbine project in Nevada due to threats to local wildlife.

And don't forget the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts that would have provided tons of clean energy to the area, but was killed by Teddy Kennedy because he might have been able to see a windmill from his family's compound. He could probably use a windmill right about now.