Climate Change: Most Americans Don't Want Government To Prosecute Global Warming Deniers (POLL)

Sixty-eight percent of likely U.S. voters said the government should not investigate or prosecute scientists and corporations who question global warming, according to a new Rasmussen poll.

Rasmussen asked, "Should the government investigate and prosecute scientists and others including major corporations who question global warming?"

Only 17 percent of respondents said they favor such prosecutions, while 15 percent were undecided.

Among Democrats, 27 percent said they support prosecuting so-called global warming deniers, while 55 percent opposed. Just 11 percent of Republicans agreed, with 77 percent opposing, and 12 percent of independents agreed.

The survey comes shortly after scientists from several colleges and research centers asked President Obama to prosecute groups that have "knowingly deceived" the American public by claiming global warming poses no risk. New York state even started an investigation into Exxon Mobil to determine whether the company knowingly lied to the public about climate change risks.

Multiple peer-reviewed studies show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree that global warming is very likely occurring due to human activity, according to NASA.

But still, when respondents were asked if they think the scientific debate about global warming is over, just 24 percent said yes, up from 20 percent in July of last year. Sixty-three percent said the issue is not settled, while 13 percent were not sure.

The survey was conducted among 1,000 likely voters between Nov. 9-10 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Tags
Climate change, Global Warming
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