The only
item within the scale that exhibited a significant difference between
pre-spill and post-spill responses for any group (all states,
Gulf states, and non-Gulf states) was the statement: “We are
approaching the limit of the number of people the earth can support”
(Table 4). Interestingly, agreement to this item was significantly
lower post-spill, indicating that respondents held more
optimistic perceptions about the human-nature relationship in the
fall of 2010 than in the spring of 2009.