Poll: Majority of Republicans break with Trump on climate change. (Earth.com)

We in the "reality-based community"welcome the majority of Republicans to the ineluctable truth of climate change.  As Governor RICHARD LYNN SCOTT once said, "Let's get to work."

With the inauguration of John Valdes on December 1, 2018 as St. Augustine's newest City Commissioner, it's time for some real broken-field running.

Led by Mayor Nancy Shaver, can the City of St. Augustine become a local, regional and national leader on adaption and resiliency, starting with support for adaptation areas, susceptible of being included in the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore?

Yes we can!

11-29-2018ENVIRONMENT

Poll: Majority of Republicans break with Trump on climate change

By Kay Vandette

Earth.com staff writer

President Donald Trump has made some undeniably galling claims about climate change over the years. 

From his assertion that climate change was a hoax created by the Chinese government, to his comments on cold weather snaps somehow proving that climate change wasn’t real, the President has stubbornly stood by his denial of climate change science.

Then, as we reported last week, Trump denied the findings of a shocking climate report released by his own government.

This week, after being asked about the Congressionally mandated climate assessment, the President said he didn’t believe it, even going so far as to suggest that he was too intelligent to accept the report’s findings. 

“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence, but we’re not necessarily such believers,” Trump told the Washington Post. “You look at our air and our water, and it’s right now at a record clean.”

What is confusing about the President’s comments on the new report is that a group of federal agencies conducted the assessment and the findings focus heavily on the economic ramifications of climate change. 

However, as the President stubbornly refutes even the slightest mention of human-made climate change, a new poll shows more and more people agree with the realities of climate change. 

The new Monmouth University poll found that 78 percent of the general population agrees that climate is happening, compared to 70 percent three years ago. The poll even found that 64 percent of Republicans think that climate change is real, compared to 49 percent three years ago. 

According to The Guardian which reported on the survey results, the poll shows that the President and his administration are now at odds with the majority of people who understand the ramifications of climate change, including members of the President’s own party and base. 

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By Kay Vandette, Earth.com Staff Writer