Majority Concerned About Environment (1st Time In Decade)

For the first time in about a decade, a majority of the American population says it is not satisfied with the quality of the environment. This probably shouldn't surprise us, since the Trump administration has shown it really doesn't care about the environment.

Trump has pulled this country out of the Paris Accords (which addresses global climate change). He also selected a man to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has a long history of fighting efforts by the EPA to clean the environment. Both Trump and his EPA head (Pruitt) think corporations should have the right to trash the environment in pursuit of more profits.

Adding to this is the selection Trump made to head the Department of the Interior (Zinke) -- a man that joins Trump in giving away public lands to greedy corporations for drilling and mining. The Trump administration has been an unmitigated disaster for the environment.

Fortunately, it looks like the public is finally starting to realize that. About 52% say they are not satisfied with the quality of the environment now, while 45% say they are satisfied. That 45% who are satisfied is the lowest percentage this century. When you break it down by political preference, you find that 69% of Republicans are satisfied while only 45% of Independents and 30% of Democrats are satisfied.

These charts are from a recent Gallup Poll -- done between January 2nd and 7th of a random national sample of 1,024 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.