Sunday, November 29, 2015

Propaganda by polling

The propaganda is rife on the eve of the Paris climate conference. Pew Research, which is usually reasonably credible, is advertising its survey that purports to reveal "broad support for limiting emissions" around the globe. Dig through to the question asked, though, and it becomes hard to imagine any other answer:

Countries from around the world will meet in December in Paris to deal with global climate change. They will discuss an agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, such as from burning coal or [gas/petrol]. Do you support or oppose (survey country) limiting its greenhouse gas emissions as part of such an agreement?
Yeah, well, unless you're a libertarian -- and very few people around the world are -- it is hard to argue with "limiting greenhouse gas emissions." One is forced to wonder, however, whether the results would be decisively different if one appended to the question some notion of cost, to wit: "even if it substantially increased the prices you will pay for gasoline, heating your home, and electricity?" That is such an obvious qualification that it is hard to imagine an intellectually honest poll on the subject that does not reflect the price of greenhouse gas regulation.

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