“It’s one of the biggest trends in US politics over the last decade: A growing left-right split over the validity of scientific information. This “science gap” is apparent most of all on the issue of climate change, but the problem is much broader, encompassing topics ranging from evolution to the safety and effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Yet even those of us who know how politicized science has become may be surprised by some new polling data out of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. There, survey researcher Lawrence Hamilton has run a new analysis of 568 New Hampshire residents, asking them a variety of questions including the following: “Would you say that you trust, don’t trust, or are unsure about scientists as a source of information about environmental issues?” Hamilton then broke down the responses by party, separating out members of the tea party from more mainstream Republicans.”* The Young Turks hosts John Iadarola (TYT University), Dave Rubin (The Rubin Report) and Jimmy Dore (The Jimmy Dore Show) break it down.
*Read more here from Chris Mooney / Mother Jones:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/tea-party-climate-trust-science