(July 17, 2012) As the nation suffers through a summer of record-shattering heat, a
University of Michigan report finds that Generation X is lukewarm about climate
change—uninformed about the causes and unconcerned about the potential dangers.
"Most Generation Xers are surprisingly disengaged,
dismissive or doubtful about whether global climate change is happening and
they don't spend much time worrying about it," said Jon D. Miller, author
of "The Generation X Report."
The new report, the fourth in a continuing series, compares
Gen X attitudes about climate change in 2009 and 2011, and describes the levels
of concern Gen Xers have about different aspects of climate change, as well as
their sources of information on the subject.
"We found a small but statistically significant decline
between 2009 and 2011 in the level of attention and concern Generation X adults
expressed about climate change," Miller said. "In 2009, about 22
percent said they followed the issue of climate change very or moderately
closely. In 2011, only 16 percent said they did so."
Miller directs the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at
the U-M Institute for Social Research. The study, funded by the National
Science Foundation since 1986, now includes responses from approximately 4,000
Gen Xers—those born between 1961 and 1981, and now between 32 and 52 years of
age.