Poll: Tea Party, GOP split on climate change

Seven in 10 Tea Party Republicans believe there is not enough evidence to conclude that the earth is warming, according to a new poll. 

A Pew poll released Friday shows a deep divide in the Republican Party on the issue. While 46 percent of Republicans think there is not enough evidence to conclude that global warming is happening, Tea Party Republicans are much less convinced.

{mosads}When the numbers are broken down, 61 percent of non-Tea Party members believe there is enough evidence to conclude global warming exists. 

Only 30 percent of those non-Tea Party members believe there is not enough solid evidence, compared to 70 percent of Tea Party Republicans who believe there isn’t enough evidence.

That divide has presented itself in past polling on other issues, including the effectiveness of the party’s tactics during the government shutdown and the approval of Republican leaders. 

Eighty-four percent of Democrats believe there is enough evidence to conclude global warming exists. 

A majority of Democrats, 64 percent, also believes that global warming is caused by human activity. 

One in three non-Tea Party Republicans believes global warming is man made, while only 9 percent of Tea Party members feel the same. 

Those numbers from both parties have been steadily rising since 2009, when belief in global warming plummeted amid the “climategate” scandal. 

The poll surveyed 1,504 people and has a 2.9 percent margin of error.