US public skeptical of climate coverage

Andrew Restuccia in the Hill: The public is skeptical of the news media’s coverage of climate change, according to a new poll. Just 24 percent of those polled in a March Gallup survey say they believe the press is accurately portraying climate science.

Forty-two percent say the news media is exaggerating the seriousness of climate change, down slightly from the 2010 high of 48 percent. About 31 percent say the press is underestimating the effects of global warming. That’s up from 25 percent in 2010.

Far more Republicans than Democrats — 67 percent versus 20 — say media coverage of climate change is exaggerated.

The vast majority of the world’s scientists say the climate is changing in large part due to human activity like the burning of fossil fuels. They warn that the planet could face dire consequences if nations don’t take drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions....

The Know Nothing flag, from 1850, another era when willfull ignorance became a major political force in the United States.