As with so much else, the public debate on climate change and what to do about it seems polarised between two extremes.
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debate → do → extremes
Yet as my polling often finds, the voters are a good deal smarter and more thoughtful than this.
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voters → find → this
And with the issue set to become a major election battleground, they need a good deal of convincing that sensible answers are at hand.
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answers → set → hand
My research finds that the public divides into five 'tribes' on this question.
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public → find → question
Impatient Idealists want faster action and think Net Zero is worth paying for; Committed Contributors are the most likely to have changed their own behaviour; Squeezed Sympathisers believe the climate is changing but say they can't afford to pay more; Cautious Pragmatists are not hostile to the environmental agenda but prioritise other things; and Staunch Sceptics think the threat is exaggerated and resist bigger bills.
Even within these groups, opinion is nuanced.
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opinion → want → groups
Many of the most climate-conscious also worry about their energy costs and wonder how far we can rely on wind and solar power.
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we → worry → power
Those at the sceptical end doubt the wisdom of dashing to Net Zero ahead of other countries.
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Those → doubt → countries
But few of them deny that climate change is real or that human activity is a factor.
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activity → deny → them
The debate is over what action is needed, how fast it should go, and who should pay for it all.
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who → need → it
Clear answers are hard to come by because there are few trusted sources to provide them.
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answers → come → them
Voters have not forgotten a previous government encouraging people to buy diesel cars (to help combat climate change, indeed) only for its successors to clobber them.
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successors → forget → them
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has come under scrutiny for the government's hesistant approach over Jackdaw
Jackdaw has been given production approval after years of legal battles with environmental campaigners.
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Jackdaw → come → campaigners
A decision has yet to be made on whether to approve Rosebank (Pictured: A flare off on North Sea oil platform)
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decision → have → platform
Chancellor John Healey will announce the UK Autumn Budget 2026 on Wednesday.
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Healey → announce → Wednesday
He is set to approve oil drilling at the controversial Rosebank oil and gas site
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He → set → site
To many, green schemes always seem like an excuse to raise tax.
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schemes → seem → tax
Businesses are suspected of using climate change as cover for higher prices.
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Businesses → suspect → prices
Environmental groups will naturally want to present the worst-case scenario.
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groups → want → scenario
Even climate scientists, who must be funded from somewhere and whose findings must surely be open to interpretation, are not considered unimpeachable.
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findings → fund → interpretation
Overall, I found the balance of opinion (by no means unanimous) was that achieving Net Zero would probably mean higher costs for their households, and that tackling climate change was outranked by affordability and independence from foreign suppliers when we asked what mattered most when it came to energy policy.
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it → find → policy
They were also more likely than not to favour new oil and gas exploration.
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They → favour → exploration
Last week, the Government gave the go-ahead to the long-planned Jackdaw gas field, while today The Mail on Sunday reports Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his Chancellor John Healey will approve oil drilling at the more controversial Rosebank site.
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Burnham → give → site
The decision will be popular with the public, though not the wider Labour Party whose ban on new exploration, I found, was backed by only one in three voters.
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I → find → voters
Many thought it absurd to forbid ourselves from drilling while cheerfully importing North Sea oil from Norway.
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it → think → Norway
At the same time, many saw Net Zero as an opportunity rather than a burden, holding out the prospect of new industries, new jobs and, ultimately, cheaper energy.
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many → see → industries
The policies for achieving it were another question.
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policies → achieve → it
The Jackdaw gas production platform, 155 miles east of Aberdeen
Drone footage shows the Jackdaw gas field at sea.
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footage → show → sea
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has now approved production at the field
Testing hypothetical ideas, majorities favoured new wind and solar farms, more nuclear power stations, and taxes on frequent flyers and high-carbon goods – provided the revenues made their way back to them in some form.
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revenues → approve → form
But, perhaps unsurprisingly, the closer to home the ideas got, the more resistance they encountered.
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they → get → resistance
Traffic charges, banning petrol and diesel cars, phasing out gas boilers and charging more for meat and dairy products to reflect their emissions went down considerably less well.
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charges → ban → emissions
Two things were clear: many have had enough of politicians 'policing your household', as one of my focus group participants put it.
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one → have → it
'I'm fed up with the Government going, 'You've got to do this', 'you've got to do that',' they added.
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they → feed → that
The second conclusion was that people's patience with ever-rising costs and taxes is at an end.
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patience → rise → end
'It's any excuse to put a tax on something,' said a contributor, who urged firms to 'be environmentally friendly but don't charge us extra for the privilege of it'.
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who → put → it
Just under half said they didn't know how much Net Zero policies added to their energy bills, and almost as many said they were unwilling to pay more.
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they → say → more
Who, then, should pay for the transition to greener energy?
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Who → pay → energy
Big businesses, energy companies and high-polluting individuals were the most popular targets, predictably enough.
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businesses → pollute → ?
Some argued that this would soon amount to the same thing: higher business costs would ultimately be extracted from customers, just as government largesse is ultimately paid for by taxpayers.
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largesse → argue → taxpayers
Looming over this is a question that bothers even some of the most environmentally minded: what is the point of Britain making expensive efforts to cut its small share of global emissions if bigger countries are not doing the same?
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countries → loom → same
Voters overall agree by an 18-point margin that the UK achieving Net Zero will make little or no difference to climate change.
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achieving → agree → change
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
