DLC | The New Democrat | July 1, 1999

Environmental Miseducation

By Megan Susman

A pair of recent studies suggest that scientists are doing a

poor job of educating the public about environmental

problems.

The first study, released late last year, found a stunning

disconnect between people's passion for and their knowledge

about environmental protection. The second, released this

spring, concludes that Americans have been bombarded by so

many claims and counter-claims about environmental problems

that they're tuning them out.

The 1998 study, conducted by the National Environmental

Education and Training Foundation, asked a sample of

Americans 10 questions about environmental facts. The average

number of correct responses was two.

For example, 40 percent of those polled said accidents

involving oil tankers and offshore wells were the major cause

of oil pollution in surface waters. Only 16 percent knew the

right answer-- namely, that ordinary folks changing and

improperly disposing of their cars' motor oil is the main

source of such pollution.

The most common responses to all of the questions illustrated

a disturbing trend: Americans tend to believe that

corporations, rather than the cumulative actions of people

like themselves, are the main source of environmental

problems. This widely held misconception is one of the

biggest stumbling blocks to a serious national debate about

the future of environmental policy.

Although Americans may not know how the environment gets

polluted, they do know that they want it cleaned up.

Sixty-two percent of the poll respondents agreed that

environmental protection can go "hand in hand" with economic

development. But when pressed to make a choice between the

two, 71 percent chose environmental protection.

Pessimistically, 57 percent agreed that "the next 10 years

are the last decade when humans will have a chance to save

the earth from environmental catastrophe."

The second study, commissioned by the American Geophysical

Union, set out to determine how well scientists are

communicating with the public on environmental issues. It was

based on findings from a series of focus groups and from

various public opinion polls.

According to the study's authors, Americans' interest in the

environment, while still high, has declined during the past

decade. The authors theorize that the problem is not that

Americans have lost interest in environmental quality, but

rather that they are confused by scientific claims and

counter-claims about environmental problems. Furthermore, the

authors say, many Americans believe environmental problems

are caused by intractable human flaws such as greed and

self-interest.

The results of both studies suggest that policymakers could

improve matters greatly by engaging citizens in solving

environmental problems -- a concept that the Progressive

Policy Institute calls "civic environmentalism." When

citizens get involved in conserving and protecting their own

communities and regions, they soon learn how to separate fact

from myth. They learn that individuals, government, and

businesses can work together to find solutions that work.

If people see that they can achieve environmental success

through cooperationand initiative on the local level, they

may find it easier to translate that optimism to a national

or even global scale.