Has the recession tossed a wet towel on the green movement? Recent developments suggest this is the case. Last month, for example, the Pew Research Center published the results of its latest survey on this topic (see “Fewer Americans See Solid Evidence of Global Warming”). Here are some excerpts:

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4 among 1,500 adults…finds that 57% think there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past few decades. In April 2008, 71% said there was solid evidence of rising global temperatures.

Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year.

The decline in the belief in solid evidence of global warming has come across the political spectrum, but has been particularly pronounced among independents. Just 53% of independents now see solid evidence of global warming, compared with 75% who did so in April 2008.

Interestingly, the survey also finds that “half of Americans favor setting limits on carbon emissions and making companies pay for their emissions, even if this may lead to higher energy prices.” Then again, 55 percent of the respondents have heard “nothing at all” about the proposed cap-and-trade bill. In other words, many people are supporting something they know nothing about. The 14 percent of respondents who have heard “a lot” about the issue oppose carbon emissions limits by two-to-one (64 percent to 32 percent).

In research published today, the Green Confidence Index—“a monthly snapshot of Americans’ attitudes about and confidence in their leaders and institutions, nationally and locally, on the subject of environmental responsibility, as well as in their own understanding of issues and their willingness to make green purchasing choices”—dropped four points during October. Here are some excerpts from the press release (“Americans’ Interest in Green Sags During Recession”):

The finding…is that while significant numbers of Americans support the administration’s environmental stance, their principal concern remains focused on the economy. The number of Americans preferring that the president “focus on the economy first” or “keep a balanced perspective” rose over the past month, while the number urging President Obama to “educate us about the issues” dropped.

According to Chief Research Officer Amy Hebard of Earthsense, whose company creates the Index: “Should we worry about a four-point drop in the Index? Not yet. Confusion in this market is broad and deep and, with the economy still in jitters, consumers’ confidence in going green will take time to build before we realize the pent-up demand we’ve seen. As we approach the holiday season, a key question will be whether or not the drop we saw in October is the start of a downward slide or just a one-month blip.”

On the global front, world leaders meeting at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore this past weekend watered down the expectations for next month’s United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen. Instead of crafting a replacement for the Kyoto agreement, with set caps on each country’s greenhouse-gas emissions, the goal now is to basically develop a framework to keep on talking for another year (see “APEC Leaders Back Delaying Final Climate Deal” in New York Times).

Here is my main takeaway from all this news: the economy and jobs is what people care about the most today. People with jobs and a stable financial future are more likely to support green initiatives than people who are unemployed and struggling to pay for housing, food, and clothing. Also, getting a global agreement on climate change, a truly executable one, is looking more and more like a quixotic adventure.