Retired Upper Darby schools superintendent Joe Batory was out for a walk along Boathouse Row and said he was “shocked” to hear that 74% of Americans wanted stronger climate action, thinking it would have been more like 15 to 20%. Batory said while people may want action, they themselves aren’t willing to do so.

“They don’t seem interested enough to do something about [climate change], like making it a major political issue that elected officials have to run on and deliver action once they’re in office.”

Riding her bike to Fan Fest, West Philly resident Amanda Benner guessed almost exactly how many people wanted action – 75%.

Benner explained that her calculation was based on the percentage of people who don’t agree with President Donald Trump that climate change is a hoax.

“I think overall … everybody wants the people and the government, the corporations to do something about climate change for this country, it’s ridiculous,” Benner said.

She said “myths, false information, just the fossil fuel industry itself,” are preventing action.

But Bristol resident Amy Ewing counted herself as part of the 36%. She said climate change is a hoax.

“I think there was the ice age,” Ewing said as she stood in line to make a free charm bracelet. “Throughout history, throughout the world, it has happened throughout time.”

Although the climate has changed over time, the most recent ice age began roughly 120,000 years ago and ended about 11,700 years ago, the consensus among scientists is that the burning of fossil fuels has led to rapid changes that are causing unprecedented heat waves, wildfires, droughts, flooding and more intense storms.

Still, Ewing said she believes in protecting the environment and wildlife habitat.

“I think nuclear is the way to go,” Ewing said. “It’s a lot more safe these days and cleaner.”
Tiffany Threadgould was walking her rescue dog near Boathouse Row. Threadgould was ‘very surprised’ to learn that 74% of her fellow Americans thought the government should do more to tackle climate change. (David Dickson)

Tiffany Threadgould was out walking her rescue dog Ivy along the river and was “very surprised” to hear that 74% of residents wanted more climate action.

“I wish it was even more. Climate change is real, the weather has been crazy hot, and we have to do something,” Threadgould said.

Threadgould is an engineer at TerraCycle, a firm that recycles hard to re-use items like toys, electronics and appliances. While solar energy costs have gone down, she said it still is not cheap enough for her to install on the roof of her rowhome.

“I wish governments could make those kinds of decisions more economically attractive for people,” she said.
WHYY’s Susan Phillips and Mark Hertsgaard with Covering Climate Now talk to Tiffany Threadgould on a path near the Art Museum. (Courtesy of David Dickson)

Fan Fest attendee Bianca Benjamin also counts herself as part of the 74% having seen summers getting hotter in two cities she has lived in, Philadelphia and New Orleans.

“I don’t have a direct solution,” Benjamin said. “I just think that plans should be created and put into place that people can follow everywhere that will help to reduce our footprint.”

This reporting is part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now.