"The survey's core result is that people care about their communities and express the desire to see government action taken toward local and national issues," said Assistant Professor David Konisky, a research scholar with the university's Institute of Public Policy. "People are hesitant to support efforts concerning global issues even though they believe that environmental quality is poorer at the global level than at the local and national level.

"This is surprising given the media attention that global warming has recently received and reflects the division of opinion about the severity of climate change," he said.

Konisky surveyed 1,000 adults concerning their attitudes about the environment. The top three issues identified by survey participants were protecting community drinking water, reducing river and lake pollution and improving urban air pollution issues such as smog. In the survey, global warming ranked eighth in importance.

The survey is available at http://truman.missouri.edu/uploads/Publications/4-2008%20Public%20Attitudes%20on%20the%20Environment.pdf