Photo © Carl Heilman II/Wild Visions Inc.

The Congressional district breakdown should be instructive to those who want Congress to take action to curb climate change.  Nearly all of the Adirondack Park (90 out of 92 towns) is located inside New York’s 21^st Congressional District (CD21).  Excluded are small portions of Forestport and Remsen in Oneida County.  CD21 extends from the Mohawk Valley to the Canadian border.  The seat is currently held by Elise Stefanik of Willsboro.

In CD21, opinions on the causes and effects of climate change are quite similar to national averages.  This alone is unusual since the national numbers are heavily affected by large population centers, whose residents are generally more likely to know and care about environmental issues.  The Adirondack Park doesn’t have any major cities or suburbs, and the cities/villages around it tend to be smaller than other parts of the state, so well-informed rural residents made the difference here.

In addition to being better informed on climate than other rural areas, local folks were much more willing to do something about it – including imposing tougher standards on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.  In fact, CD21 residents supported those solutions at rates higher than the national averages.

Unlike acid rain, local concern over climate change seems disconnected from personal fears.

CD21 residents told Yale pollsters that they believed there was much disagreement among scientists about the causes of climate change.  This is commonly held belief is not true.  But the untruth has been promoted aggressively by the fossil fuel industry nationwide for more than a decade, so it is hard for many to dismiss. 

Most Americans (60 percent) don’t think climate change will harm them personally (also very likely to be untrue) and hardly ever talk about it (76 percent said once a month or less).  Sadly, CD21 residents were even less likely to believe climate change would harm them personally (64 percent), and they talked about it even less than the national average (78 percent of locals said monthly or less).

Photo © Carl Heilman II/Wild Visions Inc.

Despite persistent misinformation cast by climate change deniers, 71 percent of North Country residents said they trust climate scientists.  This is identical to the national average.  They were just as likely as other Americans to believe climate change is already happening (70 percent).  They also mirrored the national average in believing climate change is already harming other Americans (57 percent); is harming developing nations (61 percent); will harm future generations (70 percent); and, will harm plants and animals (60 percent).

Even more encouraging, CD21 residents were more likely to favor federal regulations to halt climate change, with 77 percent saying yes here, compared to 75 percent nationwide.  Locals were more likely to support new limits on power plant emissions (71 percent vs. 69 percent).

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is serving her second term in CD21, seems to understand that the people of northern New York have a more sophisticated understanding of environmental issues than people in most other rural areas of the United States.

Congresswoman Stefanik has said while campaigning that she believes climate change is real.  Last year, she joined now-retired Congressman Chris Gibson to urge her colleague to recognize the problem and begin to address it.  She also joined a bi-partisan House Climate Solutions Caucus that states as its mission to educate members on economically-viable options to reduce climate risk and to explore bipartisan policy options that address the impacts, causes and challenges of our changing climate.

Education is not action, but may be the first step in that direction.  The Adirondack Council will encourage her to take further steps.