Washington Post: According to a new survey analysis by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, “there could be substantial receptivity to the pope’s message even among Catholics who are members of today’s GOP, well known for housing strong climate change skepticism.”
“Culling information from six national polls taken over the period from 2012 through 2015, the Yale and George Mason teams looked in particular at Catholic Republicans and how their climate views stood out within their own party.”
“The result was that even in a party known for its climate change skepticism, this group appeared less skeptical of climate science and more in favor of climate action. Most notably, the research found, 51 percent of Catholic Republicans, but just 42 percent of non-Catholic Republicans, agreed that global warming is happening – an ever so slight majority:
“’These differences between Catholics and non-Catholics are unique to Republicans; that is, we see far fewer differences between Catholic and non-Catholic Democrats and Independents on these issues,’ noted the researchers.”