“Do you believe in global warming?”

This question has been the center of heated environmental debates for decades.

In fact, Republican Senator James Inhofe once proclaimed that global warming was the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”

And Senator Inhofe represents the conservative states of this nation, right?

Wrong.

Check out the above picture from a recent study done by Stanford University.

You will notice that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that global warming is real. 

Even those crazy tree huggers in Texas and Oklahoma have joined the club.

And, even more shocking, a majority of those in red states support more significant government action. In Texas, for example, 79 % believe the government should limit greenhouse gas emissions produced by power plants.   

Additionally, a majority of Americans, including those in red states, believe that global warming is caused by humans.

This may reflect the most recent IPCC Report that confirmed that humans are the dominant cause of climate change.

So, if there is this much acceptance of global warming as an issue and such desire for regulation and increased government action, why isn’t congress acting?

Oh, that’s right, 58% of Republicans in the current Congress deny the existence of climate change or oppose action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

We can only hope that our grand old American democracy will start to better represent its people.