Poll: 6/10 Americans think Congress is ‘out of touch’ when it comes to climate change

A recent Insider/Morning Consult poll found has found that 6 in 10 Americans believe that Congress is out of touch when it comes to climate change.

The six out of ten believe Congress is either “very out of touch” or “somewhat out of touch,” according to the poll. Those who believe congress is out of touch with climate change also disapprove of the job President Biden is doing.

Climate change has been one of the issues topping Biden’s agenda. Upon taking office, Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, which former President Trump had previously removed the United States from it.

Biden has also signed an infrastructure bill which he said will fund clean energy products, renewable energy and electric vehicle charging across the country.

The poll also showed that Americans believe that those in government are too old. Those polled said that they were keen to address the “gerontocracy” which they believe is a growing problem within the US government.

Congressional term limits and medical examinations for elected politicians are other issues which are gaining overwhelming support among poll respondents.

41% of those polled believe that old age is a major problem, 37% believe that it is a minor problem, 10% don’t believe it is a problem at all and 13% are unsure and have no opinion.

“There’s near consensus among age groups —– both the oldest and the youngest voters —– and by party on all the political leaders being too old, or that being some problem,” Morning Consult’s senior reporter Eli Yokley said.

At the time of writing 5% of the US Congress is under the age of 38, and a record-high 23% of Congress is 70 or over, according to findings of Insider’s “Red, White, and Gray” project, which explores the costs, benefits, and dangers of an ageing government.

Government rules state that officials must be 25 years old to serve in the US House, 30 in the US Senate, however there’s no upper ceiling meaning that lawmakers can serve into their 80s, 90s, or even 100s.