A few weeks ago, we had a post up about a new report from the Yale Project on Climate Change (our Co-PI Tony Leiserowitz is the director) and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication called Global Warming’s Six Americas.

C3 partners weren’t the only ones to take notice of the study. Earlier this week, in a column for the San Jose Mercury News, Representative Michael Honda (D-CA) quotes good news and bad news from the study.

The good news?

“A recently published study by Yale and George Mason universities… found that a growing majority of Americans — 67 percent — want the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of other countries’ reticence toward reduction.”

But…

“… an underwhelming number of citizens have written, e-mailed or phoned government officials in the last 12 months to urge them to take action on global warming. Since constituent opinion matters to most members of Congress, the fact that most Americans are quiet on climate change does not bode well for the planet. Given that our window of opportunity to take action on climate change is quickly closing, how do we increase the sense of urgency?”

Congressman Honda’s answer: education, including the type of NSF-funded work that C3 partners are doing. Check out the column in its entirety here.