Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
January 22, 2009
Economy, Jobs Trump All Other Policy Priorities In 2009
Environment, Immigration, Health Care Slip Down the List
Environment a Lower Priority
The 15-point decline in the percentage calling environmental protection a top priority this year is steep, but not unprecedented given the broader shift in public priorities. Between January 2001 and January 2002 the proportion rating environmental protection as a top priority fell by a similar amount (from 63% to 44%); a number of domestic priorities declined in importance following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. By January 2003, just 39% called environmental protection a top priority – comparable to today's 41% – before resurging as a priority from 2006 to 2008, only to fall again this year.
The decline in the percentage calling environmental protection a top priority crosses partisan and demographic lines. For instance, only about four-in-ten women (43%) and men (39%) now say that protecting the environment should be a top priority; last January, 57% of women and 55% of men rated environmental protection as a top priority.
http://people-press.org/report/485/economy-top-policy-priority