Cap and Trade: stick a fork in it

It's done:

Even as major climate change legislation moves through Congress, fewer voters believe global warming is a very serious problem -- or even think there is solid evidence of it -- a new Pew Research survey finds. ...

According to the poll, 35% of respondents said global warming was a serious problem, down from 44% in April 2008. Even starker is the increase in voters' skepticism: Only 57% said they believe there is solid evidence that earth's average temperature has increased over the past few decades, compared with 71% who said that last year -- a 14-point drop. Also, just 36% said increases in global temperatures are the result of human activity, which was down from 47% last year.

Along political lines, global warming was the lowest-rated priority for both independents and Republicans, and was 16th among Democrats out of 20 issues.

Smart people, that American public. What never fails to astonish me is the belief by Statists that they can - by sheer force of marketing "shock and awe" - make the unwashed masses believe anything. Seemingly, the Statists' self-regard knows no bounds here, even though a cursory examination of the history of marketing would disabuse them of some silly ideas.

For example, that simple repetition of an idea and the suppression of any counter evidence can override people's basic common sense.

It's over, folks. Done. Only a third of the public thinks that Mankind has anything to do with climate change, and this with a one-sided media carpet bombing campaign. That means that it's basically Democrats who think this: the country is divided roughly into thirds (Democrat/Independent/Republican).

But it's worse than that - even Democrats don't care. Climate Change is stuck in the cellar of concerns among even self-described Democrats. If you can't even get the Party Faithful to give a damn, how are you going to get a multi-Trillion dollar restructuring of the World Economy going?

You aren't. Not coincidentally, there is some frustration being expressed by the Environment-Academic Complex:

US President Barack Obama should do more to push for a US climate deal, Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said Thursday.

"I personally feel he ought to be doing a lot more," Pachauri told reporters after a debate on climate change in Stockholm, adding the president "really has to assert himself to see that the US passes legislation" prior to the Copenhagen summit.

...

"He (Obama) has to get the Senate to legislate the Kerry-Barbara Boxer bill," Pachauri insisted during the debate, adding he felt the president had not "put his weight behind it."

Since we at Borepatch pride ourselves on being a full-service blog, let me help Dr. Pachauri out here and explain the Obama Administration to him. While you and your fellows at the IPCC have been very helpful to President Obama and his party, you've taken them about as far as you can go. As a stick to beat the Republicans, it's just not working like it used to. Since Chicago politics is all about "what can you do for me today" - as opposed to "what have you done for me yesterday" - your stroke with the POTUS is, sadly, on the wane. You'll have to do a much, much better job showing him why he should risk his entire administration when even his own party doesn't put this issue in the top 75% of Really Important Things To Do.

The American Public has done put me in a good mood. Thanks, American Public!

Hat tip: Roger Pielke, Jr.