Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t JoNova; According to Ipsos Mori, 83% of the British people want drastic climate action, but support “drops off rapidly” when people are asked to make personal sacrifices.
Climate change: UK public more worried than ever about global warming, but still doesn’t want to pay to fix it
Ipso Mori survey finds that people have become noticeably more concerned in the past year after a string of extreme weather events
By Tom Bawden
Science & Environment CorrespondentJanuary 2, 2022 3:06 pm(Updated 3:22 pm)The UK public is considerably more concerned by climate change than it was even a year ago, following a string of wildfires, storms and other extreme events around the world this year, a new survey shows.
…
The survey also finds that while people are in favour of drastic measures to help the country become net zero by 2050 in theory – when they realise the cost and potential inconvenience it could give them personally support drops off rapidly.
…
But a followup question asking them to consider making personal sacrifices, such as not being able to take a flight or missing out on a favourite food because it was wrapped in single-use plastic, found only one measure had majority support – charging more for environmentally-damaging products and services.
…
Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh, of Bath University and a director of CAST, added: “This provides further evidence that the UK public want urgent action on climate change, but may not yet be fully aware of the implications for individuals of doing so.”
…
Read more: https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/climate-change-uk-public-more-worried-global-warming-pay-fix-1361102
The survey was conducted by Ipsos Mori & C.A.S.T. last October.
I believe the core reason why support drops off when personal sacrifices are demand is not lack of awareness. The problem is people in Britain have been bombarded with falsehoods about the cost of climate action.
How many dodgy claims have you seen or heard, about how cheap wind and solar energy is, compared to fossil fuel? About how embracing 100% renewables will reduce your energy bill?
In addition, meaningless coercive rituals like sorting trash into different bins may have created an impression in people’s minds that they are already doing their bit.
When the true cost of renewables begins to bite, and Britain has only had a taste of this so far, British politicians are going to have a lot of explaining to do.
This poll is no different than many done on society’s issues.
Scrolling through the results of the CAST poll was enlightening. As with most polls, people want something done, but only a few really want to pay for it.
The % of those who are willing to APPROVE of the following
limit personal flying 34%
limit / increase cost of oil/gas for cars 34%
limit meat & dairy products 41 %
agree to purchase a new boiler 32%
agree to force pension plans to invwest in ESG companies and get a lower return 16%
And finally where the rubber meets the road:
agrees to increase their own taxes to pay tp pay for the policy 26%
So yes, the scared public says “do something, but make sure someone else pays for it”!
Of course this ignores the fact that doing the New Green Deal / Build Back Better won’t
really have a significant effect on the climate.
Wrong, 83% want the eco morons to go away.
Apart from the need to virtue signal to the person asking the poll question, the other reason that 83% of Brits say they love green energy is because they do not pay for it. The government has a price cap on residential power prices that stops retailers passing on the real wholesale cost of electricity. This is the reason 20+ retail power companies have gone bust in the last 12 months. They are not allowed to pass on the real cost to the public so people can continue to indulge in their global warming fantasies.
No government in a democratic system will ever change a system like that due to the fear of voter backlash. The British public need to understand that while they might not be paying massively higher power bills, they do pay in other ways i.e. higher taxes and fees and higher inflation. Until mad Boris and the rest of the climate kooks are brought to account the green carpetbaggers will continue shoveling government (public) money into their Swiss bank accounts.
It has to get worse before it gets better – much, much, much, much worse.
I agree, its a massive political issue for the technically illiterate politicians who spent decades selling the switch to renewables as being driven because of lower cost.
When the reality hits that renewables are a much more expensive way of delivering energy to consumers, voters react poorly.
Unfortunately the honest way of selling renewables, “that they are much more expensive but it is needed to combat the negatives we forecast as going to occur” invites all sorts of awkward questions.