Poll: Most NJ residents convinced climate change already impacting the state

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The Stockton University Poll found that 67% of state residents surveyed believe climate change is now a crisis or major problem and 73% believe it is currently affecting New Jersey. Thirty-two percent classified it as a “minor problem” or “not a problem at all” and 23% indicated they did not believe it was impacting the state.

Most New Jersey residents are concerned about climate change and believe it is already impacting the Garden State, according to a new poll released Monday.

The Stockton University Poll found that 67% of state residents surveyed believe climate change is now a crisis or major problem and 73% believe it is currently affecting New Jersey. Thirty-two percent classified it as a “minor problem” or “not a problem at all” and 23% indicated they did not believe it was impacting the state.

Among Democrats, 92% viewed climate change as a crisis or major problem compared to 35% of Republicans. Sixty-four percent of independents also viewed it as a crisis or major problem.

Women were more likely to be concerned about the issue than men (72% to 62%) and almost 80% of those surveyed between ages 18 and 29 said they believed the issue was a major problem or crisis, compared to 70% of those over 65.

Residents from coastal counties along the shoreline and Delaware Bay were slightly less alarmed with 64% believing climate change was a major problem or crisis and 69% believing it is already affecting New Jersey, according to the poll.

The findings were based on separate telephone surveys conducted by the university’s polling institute from Sept. 18-29. A total of 807 New Jersey adults were interviewed for the statewide numbers and another 563 were interviewed solely from the counties of Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem, officials said.

“The results show climate change is a concern to people all over New Jersey and not just those who live along the Jersey shore,” said John Froonjian, interim director of the university’s William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy.

Among the respondents who believe climate change is currently impacting the state, three quarters or more identified rising sea levels, warming of the earth, harming or changing of the ocean, extreme weather and worsening of pollution as major problems. Seventy-percent also said beach erosion was also a major problem, 68% cited impacts to crops and farming and 66% said flooding.

Sixty-four percent of the residents surveyed believed climate change was caused mainly by human activities and 27% said it was caused largely by natural occurrence. About 4% responded “some other cause” and 4% were unsure. Just 1% indicated they did not believe in climate change at all.

Just 10% of residents believe the government’s response to climate change has been “strong and appropriate.” Another 29% felt it was OK but that the government could do more and 25% believe the government should do more to address the issue. Another 31% said the government response has been “totally inadequate.”

Gov. Phil Murphy has said he considers climate change “a fact” and that it is already causing impacts here, including this summer when severe thunderstorms caused major flooding along the Rancocas Creek in Burlington County.

During his two years in office, Murphy and his administration have taken several actions on the issue, including returning New Jersey to a regional greenhouse gas pact and jumpstarting the state’s wind industry. He has also called for the state to rely on 100% clean energy by 2050.

Some environmental groups have still criticized him, arguing that he should declare a moratorium on new natural gas infrastructure, including the Southern Reliability Link, a controversial gas pipeline under construction through Ocean, Monmouth and Burlington counties.