Forty-four percent of Idahoans believe the climate is changing and that climate change is a “crisis,” according to a survey by pollster Dan Jones & Associates and commissioned by Zions Bank. The survey results were reported Monday in Idaho Politics Weekly, an electronic newsletter on all things politics and presented by Zions Bank.

The survey also found 26 percent of respondents saying the climate is changing but that the change is “not very damaging,” while 21 percent deny the climate is changing, and 9 percent said they don’t know. As would be expected, more Democrats and independents than Republicans believe climate change is occurring. One-fifth of Republicans agree climate change is real and that it amounts to a crisis. Forty percent of Republicans say the climate is changing but that it is “not very damaging,” while 30 percent of Republicans deny the climate is changing. Among Democrats, 84 percent say the climate is changing and that it is a crisis, 21 percent agree it’s changing but not very damaging, and only 2 percent of Idaho Democrats surveyed deny the climate is changing. Among independents, 50 percent believe in climate change and that it is a crisis while 21 percent believe it is occurring but is not very damaging. That 70 percent of independents acknowledging climate change roughly matches the views of all Idahoans, on average.

The more conservative the respondent, the less likely the respondent is to believe in climate change. The survey results, while not surprising, underscore the persistent disconnect between Idahoans – 70 percent of whom say the climate is changing – and the overall resistance by state policy makers to either acknowledge climate change or to implement policies and actions to do anything about it.

According to Idaho Politics Weekly, which published the above findings, Jones polled 601adults from May 20-28. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.96 percent.