Survey uncovers climate change doubts

One in three Australians does not believe climate change is caused by humans, a new survey suggests.

But at least that's greener than Australian counterparts in the US.

Researchers from the University of Sydney's United States Studies Centre spoke to 800 Australians to gauge their feelings on climate change and compare them with Americans.

The survey found climate change was much higher on the agenda in Australia than the US: 83 per cent agreed the planet was warming and 67 per cent acknowledged that was because of humans.

A comparable study in the US found 57 per cent believed in man-made global warming.

But more interestingly, the surveyors found the political debate on climate change is more of a problem for US President Barack Obama than it is for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

While a majority of Australians (59 per cent) and Americans (62 per cent) agreed something must be done to combat climate change, the gulf between the political parties was great.

In Australia, 70 per cent of Labor voters and 44 per cent of Liberal voters wanted action, while in the US, 84 per cent of those aligned with the Democrats wanted legislation, compared with just 31 per cent of Republicans.

In the US, Mr Obama faces another big fight to pass climate change friendly legislation through the Senate, debate on which has been delayed until after the Copenhagen climate change conference next month.

Meanwhile, Mr Rudd is desperate to get his government's carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) legislation up by the end of next week.

"The partisan divide on climate change is big in Australia, but even bigger in the US," said the centre's visiting professor, Simon Jackman.

"The centre-right hold views on climate change that are at odds with mainstream opinion in both countries, but Americans are just less committed to fighting climate change than Australians."

Unsurprisingly, the majority of Greens supporters wanted something done about global emissions, while Nationals voters rated on par with the Liberals.

As a whole, the survey found climate change was less of an important issue for Americans, with only four per cent rating it the most important issue for the US, compared with the economy (46 per cent) and health care (13 per cent).