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THE HARRIS POLL

Nearly Half of Americans Cite 'Too Little' Environment Regulation

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
October 13, 2005

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults agree that protecting the environment is important and standards cannot be too high, according to a Harris Interactive poll.

At the same time, nearly half of Americans surveyed say there is too little government regulation and involvement in the area of environmental protection, compared with about 19% who feel there is too much regulation and 32% who say it's just right.

The telephone poll of 1,217 adults indicates concern about too little environmental protection has risen slightly from 39% in 2000, when this poll was last conducted. But the percentage is far below the 63% who said there was too little regulation back in 1991.

Americans view large corporations as one of the biggest culprits in environmental problems: 71% said they are doing less than their share to help reduce environmental problems. But 63% say the general public isn't doing its share.

Only 12% of U.S. adults describe themselves as active environmentalists. While more than half of U.S. adults say they are sympathetic to environmental concerns, nearly a quarter say they are neutral and 4% say they are unsympathetic.

Water pollution is the top concern among poll respondents, followed by air pollution. Other priorities included global warming, ozone depletion, and depletion of forest lands.