Should Candidates Be Talking About Climate Change?

This week's primary followed the . and now that we have a new set of candidates (and maybe we’ve lost touch with our current legislators’ views, if we ever knew them) do you want to know each candidates' stance on climate change?

According to a new study from Yale’s Center on Climate Change Communication, it showed that “55 percent of registered voters say that the candidates’ views on global warming will factor into their decisions in the polling booth.”

Here are some highlights from the study:

• A majority of all registered voters (55%) say they will consider candidates' views on global warming when deciding how to vote.
• Among these climate change issue voters, large majorities believe global warming is happening and support action by the U.S. to reduce global warming, even if it has economic costs.
• Independents lean toward “climate action” and look more like Democrats than Republicans on the issue.
• A pro-climate action position wins votes among Democrats and Independents, and has little negative impact with Republican voters.
• Policies to reduce America’s dependence on fossil fuels and promote renewable energy are favored by a majority of registered voters across party lines.
• These patterns are found nationally and among ten swing states.

An earlier report, also published by Yale, found that measures taken on global warming and clean energy fronts should be priorities. Not only might they improve the environment, they could become economic drivers.

According to the study, those polled, “a majority also say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a "revenue neutral" tax shift from income taxes to fossil fuels, and that global warming will be one of the issues that determines their vote for President this fall.”

The New York Times cited a Stanford-Washington University study that showed skepticism of climate change and scientists is rising. But, “nearly three-quarters of those polled still say the earth is probably warming.”