Business View Magazine - May 2016 15
The survey shows that more Democrats (89 per-
cent) than Republicans (69 percent) say environ-
mental issues are important when helping them
decide which presidential candidate to support, and
that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton lead as the
presidential candidates Americans think would be
the best environmental advocates. This bodes well
for those candidates, as 80 percent of Americans
say that this issue plays an important role when de-
ciding their next president. Donald Trump came in
third in the poll, followed by Ted Cruz and John Ka-
sich.
“While it’s no surprise that global warming is on
the minds of many Americans these days, even our
team at Nat Geo WILD was surprised at the near
unanimous belief that this is an issue that affects us
all,” said Geoff Daniels, Executive Vice President and
General Manager of Nat Geo WILD. “This survey
shows that climate change is an issue that not only
presidential candidates should address, but some-
thing that anyone running for public office should
give substantial consideration to … not just for our
species, but for the animal kingdom as well.”
In addition to politics, wildlife is on the minds of
Americans, as most (91 percent) are concerned
about the extinction of endangered animals. Mil-
lions take action to protect them and learn more
about conservation. Perhaps their empathy comes
from guilt — many (45 percent) believe human-driv-
en habitat destruction has the biggest impact on an-
imal populations. What’s more, many (82 percent)
think zoos should exist and most (83 percent) agree
with SeaWorld’s efforts to cease captive breeding
of orcas.
Other highlights from the survey:
Environmentally Conscious Americans
With most of the nation agreeing that global warm-
ing is real, Americans’ daily habits are influenced by
the state of the planet. Over nine in 10 Americans
(94 percent) have made an effort to reduce their car-
bon footprint. Common steps these environmentally
conscious Americans have taken include purchasing
eco-friendly light bulbs (68 percent), using reusable
shopping bags (66 percent) or purchasing recycled
products (57 percent).
Endangered Species
A large majority (91 percent) of Americans are con-
cerned about the extinction of endangered animals.
But this worry comes with a sense of optimism.
Nine in 10 (90 percent) are hopeful that the animal
species on the endangered list will not become ex-
