United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Communications,
Education, and Media Relations
(1704)
EPA-171-F-98-019
January 1999
&EPA
Key Findings of America's
Environmental Knowledge,
Attitudes and Behaviors*
!
Environmental Knowledge
Americans do know a lot about some
environmental issues:
• 83% know garbage ends up in landfills
• 73% know that species loss is primarily
due to habitat loss
• 69% know motor vehicles are a primary
source of air pollution
Americans do not know very much about other
environmental issues:
• Only 23% identified runoff as the leading
cause of water pollution
• 47% thought dumping of waste by
factories is the major cause of water
pollution
• Only 33% know that burning fossil fuels is
the primary method for generating
electricity and understand the impact this
has on air quality
Overall, 2 out of 3 Americans do not receive a
"passing grade" of correctly answering 70% of the
questions on the 12-question environmental test.
* Adapted from "The National Report Card
on Environmental Knowledge, Attitudes,
and Behaviors: The Sixth Annual Survey of
Adult Americans" conducted by the
National Environmental Education and
Training Foundation and Roper Starch
Worldwide (November 1997). The
findings are based on a survey of 1,501
participants. For more information, contact
NEETF by telephone at 202-628-8200 or
visit their World Wide Web site at
< http ://www.neetf.org >.
Concern About the Environment
Americans strongly support environmental
protection:
• Most felt that environmental
protection and economic development
can co-exist
• Most felt that the federal government
should spend more on environmental
programs
Most Americans are fairly optimistic about
our ability to solve environmental
problems:
• Over two-thirds of the respondents felt
that technology will be helpful in
finding solutions to environmental
problems
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In the
Americans strongly support environmental education in
the schools:
« 95% of Americans (and 96% of parents) support
environmental education in the schools
Adults need environmental education too:
• No evidence was found to support the notion
that parents with school-age children who are
learning about the environment in their
classroom know more about the environment
than adults who do not have school-age children
and
are
Environmental knowledge affects beliefs and attitudes
about the environment:
• Individuals with greater knowledge about the
environment are more likely Lo believe that
economic development and environmental
protection can co-exist
« These individuals are also more optimistic about
our ability to protect the environment
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