Two-thirds of likely voters in California believe global warming is a serious threat and 64 percent believe steps need to be taken right now to counter its effects, a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California finds.
The poll, taken annually to measure Californians' sentiment on environmental and energy issues, surveyed 2,500 California adults, including 1,131 likely voters, by landlines and cellphones from July 10- 24. The margin of error among likely voters is plus or minus 3.6 percent.
The survey found continuing strong support, 62 percent, from likely voters for the state law to roll back greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, about a 25 percent reduction from current levels.
Responses to the global warming questions were split along partisan lines, with independents generally aligned with the views of Democrats. Among Democrats, 88 percent believe steps should be taken right away and 84 percent support the state's global warming law. Only 44 percent of Republicans support the state law, and just 38 percent believe that steps need to be taken right away.
The survey has measured public support for the California global warming law every July for the past seven years. Since 2007, support among Democrats has remained essentially unchanged, support among independents has dropped slightly, and support among Republicans has dropped sharply, falling from 60 percent in 2007 to 44 percent in 2012.
More than three-quarters of adults said they favor a number of specific steps to address global warming, including increased energy efficiency standards for buildings and appliances (77 percent), requiring industrial plants and oil refineries to reduce emissions (82 percent), and requiring automakers to further reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from cars (78 percent).
Asked which presidential candidate they most trust to deal with issues of global warming and energy policy, 54 percent said President Barack Obama and 33 percent said Republican Mitt Romney.
On other high-profile energy issues, the poll found just 31 percent of Californians favor the building of new nuclear power plants â€" just slightly above the all-time low of 30 percent registered last year in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami-caused meltdown at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Californians remain evenly divided on the question of expanded oil drilling off the state's coast â€" 48 percent support, 48 oppose. The poll found sharp regional differences on that issue, with strong opposition (56 percent) along the northern coast, slight opposition (50 percent, versus 47 percent in support) along the southern coast, and strong support (58 percent) in inland areas.
Those two issues also revealed significant partisan differences, as 50 percent of Republicans said they favor more nuclear power plants and 77 percent favor more oil drilling off the coast. Among Democrats, 69 percent oppose new nuclear plants and 64 percent oppose additional offshore drilling.
On political issues, the poll found Obama holds an 11 percentage-point advantage over Romney (51 percent to 40 percent) in California, identical to the advantage he held when the PPIC survey last asked the question in May.
It also found 46 percent of likely voters approve of Gov. Jerry Brown's performance in office, up slightly from 42 percent approval in May.
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