Lower than half of residents in farming-dependent counties say they’re apprehensive about local weather change, nicely under the 63% nationwide common.
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Nevertheless, in Costilla County in south-central Colorado, greater than 70% of residents stated they’re both considerably or very apprehensive about local weather change, based on the 2024 Local weather Opinion survey from the Yale Program on Local weather Change Communication.
Farming-dependent counties, in addition to these with economies centered round mining and manufacturing, reported decrease ranges of concern for local weather change within the survey in comparison with counties with economies tied to recreation and authorities businesses.
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However the excessive degree of concern in Costilla County highlights how excessive climate can affect the outlook of farmers.
A part of the San Luis Valley, Costilla County is within the midst of an prolonged drought that has led to a scarcity of water for the area’s crops and cattle.
“Extremes in climate on this Massachusetts-sized space are bringing farmers to their knees like almost no place else in america,” a Nationwide Geographic reporter wrote in 2021.
Jennifer Marlon, who created the Yale Local weather Opinion Maps, stated residents in counties tied to farming, mining and manufacturing may be extra proof against local weather change as a result of they see proposed environmental insurance policies as a menace to their livelihood.
“Folks have known as that answer aversion; it’s not that they do not suppose local weather change is not taking place, however they actually don’t just like the options,” Marlon stated. “I feel that was beginning to change beneath the Biden administration as a result of lots of these communities had been beginning to get monetary advantages for various power and investing in photo voltaic and constructing crops that present jobs.
“Folks have known as that answer aversion; it’s not that they do not suppose local weather change is not taking place, however they actually don’t just like the options.”
Jennifer Marlon, Yale Local weather Opinion Maps CREATOR
“Now there may be actually concerted pushback in opposition to that, which is beginning to take us extra within the different course.”
Farming-dependent counties are outlined by the USDA as counties the place 25% or extra of common annual earnings had been derived from farming, or 16% or extra of jobs had been in farming.
There are 444 counties labeled as farming-dependent, though a whole bunch extra have robust agricultural financial ties. Most of those counties are in rural areas that lean politically conservative, which can be why most reported decrease ranges of concern for local weather change than different counties.
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