A new poll released today by Yale and George Mason Universities finds that Americans trust scientists most when it comes to information on climate change. Second to scientists is family and friends, which beat out environmental organizations, religious leaders, mainstream media, and President Obama.
According to the poll, 82 percent of Americans trust scientists on climate change with 28 percent saying that they strongly trust scientists. Americans also trust those close to them: 77 percent said they trusted family and friends when it came to information about climate change. Environmental organizations were trusted by 66 percent of those polled, making it third.
Mainstream media garners very little trust from Americans when it comes to climate change. In fact Americans trust Al Gore (58 percent), President Obama (51 percent), and religious leaders (48 percent) over mainstream media. Only John McCain (38 percent) and corporations (19 percent) were less trusted than the media, which came in at 47 percent.
The poll appears to agree with a recent Gallup poll that showed more Americans than ever believed that the media exaggerated global warming. In that poll 41 percent of Americans said that the media exaggerated global warming, while 28 percent of Americans thought that the media was guilty of underestimating the threat of climate change. Both polls point to a strong distrust of the media.
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