Environmental advocates seeking to drum up support for their
cause may want to consider talking less about issues such as the
greenhouse effect and the ozone layer, and more about something
closer to Americans' everyday lives: their water supply.
Gallup's March 2004 Environment poll* asked Americans to rate
their level of worry about several possible environmental problems,
and water-related issues top the list. Of the 10 items tested,
three of the top four were solely water-related (the contamination
of both soil and water by toxic waste is among the top four).
Americans are significantly more worried about their water than
they are about air pollution, plant and animal extinction, and the
ozone layer.
Pollution of drinking water topped the list of environmental
worries, with half (53%) of Americans saying they worry about it "a
great deal" and another 24% saying they worry about it "a fair
amount." The findings for this question are closely in line with
results from 2003 and 2002, but concern about the pollution of
drinking water is substantially lower than it was in 2000, when 72%
worried a great deal about it.
Pollution of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs also worries the
public, but not to the degree that it has in the past. While 48% of
Americans worry about the pollution of bodies of water a great deal
and 31% worry about it a fair amount, in 1989, the issue worried
72% of Americans a great deal and 19% were worried a fair amount.
The current level of worry is the lowest Gallup has recorded in the
15 years it has asked this question.
The Water Supply
Like the other water-related environmental concerns, maintenance
of the nation's supply of fresh water for household needs is a
serious concern among Americans. Nearly half (47%) of the public is
worried about it a great deal and another 25% is worried a fair
amount. Unlike the other water-related issues, though, the level of
serious concern about maintaining fresh water supplies is higher
than it was at the beginning of the decade.
The Demographics of Water Worry
The environment remains a stronghold political issue for the
Democratic Party, so it is not surprising to find that Democrats
express a greater degree of worry than Republicans do when it comes
to solely water-related environmental issues. On all measures,
Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say they
worry a great deal.
The data also show that people with higher incomes are less
likely to worry about water-related issues than those with lower
incomes are. Americans with annual household incomes of $75,000 or
more are least likely to worry a great deal about water pollution.
Concern is highest among those with annual incomes of $30,000 or
less. However, those in lower-income groups are more likely than
those in higher-income groups to worry a great deal about
environmental issues in general.
*Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,005
national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted March 8-11, 2004. For
results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say
with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3
percentage points.
