On yet another issue, the American public is solidly behind the Green position. A Zogby poll conducted August 11-16 showed that three quarters of Americans are more convinced today that global warming is a reality than they were two years ago. 87% of Democrats believe that global warming is occurring, 82% of independents, and 56% of Republicans. Two thirds of the public believes that global warming has had an influence on summer heat waves, more intense hurricanes, more frequent droughts, and less snowfall in parts of the country.
Although some limited efforts have been made at the state and local level to curb global warming gasses, the national Republican Party is still in denial on this issue, while the Democrats have not shown the guts to take the issue on. The 2004 Democratic Party Platform didn’t contain a single reference to global warming or greenhouse gasses.
Only the Green Party has advocated an ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gasses and effective policies to achieve them. The majority of the American public has caught up with us–we are now the mainstream on this issue.