Each fall the SCSU Survey conducts a survey of adult Minnesotans about their perspectives on relevant political and social issues. The environmental portion of the survey sought to gauge Minnesotans’ perspectives on climate change.
The SCSU Fall 2015 Survey also has released an Political Report based and a Disability Report focused on Minnesotans’ views on the American Disability Act.
The survey asked respondents about their beliefs about climate change and whether it’s important for the state to take action to prepare for climate change.
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According to the results, 88 percent of Minnesotans believe that climate change is occurring now. As to the cause, 57 percent believe that it is human-caused while 31 percent believe it is the result of natural causes.
Seventy-eight percent of Minnesotans believe that taking action to address the effects of climate change is important or very important.
Almost 7 percent of Minnesotans do not believe climate change is happening and almost 4 percent didn’t know or didn’t have an answer. These views are held across party lines, 97 percent of those who self-identify as Democrats and 83 percent of Republicans believe that climate change is happening now.
Eighty-three percent of Democrats attribute climate change to human activities, compared to 55 percent of Republicans.
“This demonstrates that acceptance of climate change as an issue is growing, and far more than 50 percent of the Minnesota public accept that it’s both real and an important issue to deal with,” said Ann Finan, St. Cloud State associate professor of sociology and report author.
The 35 year-old SCSU Survey is led by an interdisciplinary team of St. Cloud State faculty and student directors who design the survey and analyze results. The survey conducts surveys each year for statewide Minnesota offices. The survey sample came from a statewide random sample of Minnesota adults. Responses were gathered from 623 randomly-selected landline and cellphone users Oct. 12-22 at the St. Cloud State University Survey Lab.
