A report entitled The Climate Generation; Survey Analysis of the Perceptions and Beliefs of Young Americans, was released today from the Yale Project on Climate Change. The report puts into question "... conventional wisdom [that] holds that young Americans, growing up in a world of ever more certain scientific evidence, increasing news attention, alarming entertainment portrayals, and school-based curricula, should be more engaged with and concerned about the issue of climate change than older Americans," and, "reveal[s] that Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 are, for the most part, split on the issue of global warming and, on some idicators, relatively disengaged when compared to older generations."  (Feldman et. al., 2010)

The results of this survey are surprising, especially to those of us here at the Will Steger Foundation.  Indeed, members of our Emerging Leaders Program and most recently our Copenhagen delegates demonstrated more maturity, concern and engagement than the majority of individuals I encounter on a day to day basis.  It will be interesting to follow other reactions to these survey results as they emerge in the coming weeks.

Click here to find this and other reports from the Yale Project on Climate Change

YouthJan2010yale.pdf