Poll: Global warming ranks low among reasons some people oppose Keystone XL

Radical environmentalists can't even sell their chicken-little global warming message among their allies.

From the Washington Post:

The latest University of Texas Energy Poll finds that among Americans who have at least some familiarity with Keystone XL, 45 percent support the pipeline, while 21 percent oppose it. Not surprisingly, Republicans are strongly supportive, 72 percent to 7 percent, while Democrats overall are slightly opposed, 28 percent to 34 percent.

But here’s where it gets a bit more interesting: Why do people support or oppose the pipeline? Among Americans who are familiar with the pipeline and oppose it, the most common reason wasn't climate change. In fact, climate change ranked sixth. Just 6 percent of opponents listed climate change as their main concern with the pipeline. Even among Democrats, for whom climate change is usually a higher priority, that figure rises to just 7 percent.

In contrast, some 34 percent cited environmental degradation as their main concern, followed by water contamination (16 percent), hazardous chemicals (10 percent), “benefits Canadian consumers at the expense of US consumers” (10 percent) and "propagates dependence on fossil fuels" (7 percent).

Some of those reasons, such as dependence on fossil fuels, overlap with climate change at least a bit. But the fact that climate change itself placed so low seems surprising, given that environmental groups have made climate change a prominent part of their opposition to Keystone XL.