On February 8, Clean Energy Canada released results from an online survey of 2,500 Canadian adults, conducted by Abacus Data. Across Canada, 35% support a federal carbon tax, 37% say they are open to considering it, and 28% oppose it – with the highest opposition from Alberta (41%). When told that revenues would be rebated to households (the
Carbon Incentive Plan), support climbed by 9 points – and even more in Alberta. Asked if they agreed with Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s statement that a carbon tax will bring a recession, 64% of Canadians and 63% of Ontarians disagreed – and when asked a follow-up question asserting that many economists disagree with Premier Ford, 74% of Canadians and 73% of Ontarians stated they would trust the economists over the Premier.
The Angus Reid Institute has tracked opinion about a carbon tax in Canada since April 2015, and are due to release new survey results in winter 2019 . Their online survey conducted in October 2018 (just after the announcement of the federal Carbon Incentive plan), showed that support for a carbon tax had increased nationally from 43% in July 2018 to 54% in October. The leading cause of opposition to the carbon plan is the sense that it is a “tax grab”, followed by the opinion that it will not help reduce emissions. Also notably, “six-in-ten Canadians say they do not trust information about climate change from their provincial government – with only 24% of Manitobans trusting their government. Who do Canadians trust on this issue? 78% trust university scientists; 56% trust “international organizations doing work in this field”.

From Angus Reid Institute, “Duelling realities” poll
Other recent Angus Reid analysis of Canadians’ overall attitudes on climate change was released on November 30 in “Dueling realities? Age, political ideology divide Canadians over cause & threat of climate change”. Only 9% of Canadians do NOT perceive climate change as a threat, with 55% of 18 to 34-year-olds said they believe climate change to be a very serious threat. Yet a survey released in January 2019, “Six-in-ten Canadians say lack of new pipeline capacity represents a crisis in this country” details the polarized opinions about oil pipelines, showing that 53% of Canadians surveyed support both the Energy East and TransMountain pipeline projects, and six-in-ten say the lack of new pipeline capacity constitutes a “crisis”. Opinions are divided by region, ranging from 87% in Alberta and 74% in Saskatchewan seeing a crisis, versus 40% in Quebec.
Opinion in the United States: Results from the December 2018 national survey, Climate Change in the American Mind , reveal that 46% of Americans polled have personally experienced the effects of global warming, and a majority are worried about harm from extreme events in their local area – including extreme heat (61%), flooding (61%), droughts (58%), and/or water shortages (51%). This longstanding survey (since 2013) is conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. It also updates the results in the series, “Global Warming’s Six Americas” , which categorizes attitudes from “Alarmed”, to “Concerned”, all the way to “Doubtful” and “Dismissive” – showing that in December 2018, the “Alarmed” segment is at an all-time high of 29% , while the “Dismissive” and “Doubtful” responses have declined to only 9%. The full report also includes responses concerning emotional responses to global warming, perceived risks, and personal and social engagement – which includes such questions as “How much of an effort do your family and friends make to reduce global warming?”
Australian women are re-considering having children: A survey released in February by the Australian Conservation Foundation and the 1 Million Women organization reports on climate change attitudes of Australian women, in the lead-up to the country’s federal election in 2019. Of the 6514 Australian women who responded to the survey between September – October 2018, nearly 90% are extremely concerned about climate change. Again, concern is highest in the under-30 bracket, where one in three are so worried about what global warming that they are reconsidering having children. A four page summary of survey results is here .
Finally, international attitudes are reflected in a survey published in February by Pew Research Center: “Climate Change Still Seen as the Top Global Threat, but Cyberattacks a Rising Concern”. This top-level survey of 26 countries shows that climate change was perceived as the most important threat in 13 countries: including Canada, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Spain, Sweden, U.K., Australia, South Korea, Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. In the U.S., the top threat was seen to be cyberattacks from other countries (74%), followed by attacks from ISIS (62%). Global climate change was the third-ranked threat at 59% .
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