2% of Americans think Obama should put priority on energy

USA Today have an article featuring a poll that compares Obama's position now and one year ago. There is, not so surprisingly, slightly less hope among the Americans today compared to a year ago.

When it comes to priorities for Obama only 2% of people think energy. The Economy 41%, Iraq and Afghanistan 18%, Health Care 17%, Federal Budget Deficit 14% all have higher priorities.

My conclusion is that Obama might have changed his opinion on the environment but the American public certainly has not. If you remember the figures I pulled out from the Eurobarometer the other day where Sweden and Denmark topped the list of having a population caring for the environment, it is clear that the Americans are fairly typical among the European nations like Germany.

DN.se have another article today concerning the idea of a Nordic Union. Rightly so they warn that it is a rather introvert idea. Yesterday there was a web question that informed that 80% liked the idea and today's article also claimed that is was popular.

"Sol, vind och vatten", the mountains, the lakes and the meadows of Scandinavia as a laid back vacation paradise for an otherwise busy Europe? The Scandinavians are very interested in environmental issues and this might derive from an urge to protect the natural resources. Or are the Scandinavians more prone to world wide concerns than all other peoples?

I detect a gap between the will of the people and the environmentalists. Generating environmental shame is a new way of gaining power? The various churches are also very busy in this respect?

I detect in this talk of a Nordic Union, the dream of a European suburb, an attempt to harmonize environmentalism with the Swedish peace movement. There is of course nothing wrong in striving for peace but on the other hand it is necessary to confront the problems areas in the world that are manageable. EU can do this whereas a Nordic Union, only 2.5 times larger than Sweden, is powerless.