The Red, White, and Green

Photo via Flickr: Infrogmation

It seems logical that the tragedy of the BP oil spill would serve as a public opinion tipping point, that it could somehow be the impetus for this country to free itself from fossil fuels once and for all. It’s what a lot of us have been hoping for, anyway.

Turns out, this is exactly what is happening, and the stats are in to prove it: According to data from the June Congressional Conversation Index, the environment and energy now top the list of issues concerning Americans, having steadily increased in the rankings since the spill occurred on April 20. Take a look:

Of the top 10 issues prompting constituents to contact their representative, the environment now ranks second, while energy ranks fifth. (Combined, the two top the entire list.) This is a marked increase from just a few months ago; in February, for example, health and Medicare were the two most pressing issues on citizens’ minds.

The two questions I have are:

#1 Do more Americans truly care about clean energy, or have environmentalists just been more proactive about contacting members of Congress?

#2 Will Americans continue to care once the oil spill is capped (as perhaps may now be the case), or will it be out of sight, out of mind until the next one happens?

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed