Pirate's Cove

They’re just not too enthused on paying for it

Report says Canadians want to fight climate change – as cheaply as possible

Most Canadians care about the climate – but not quite enough to welcome massive energy bill hikes or to buy an electric car.

That was one of the many interesting snippets to come out of a recently-released report for Natural Resources Canada. The report’s purpose was to help tailor the government’s resource-related plans to meet “the needs of the public.” (snip)

When Canadians were also asked to rank their energy-related values, the most highly ranked values were usually “minimizing environmental impacts” and “keeping energy cheap and affordable.” That doesn’t mean that Canadians are willing to find a way to balance the two. When asked to consider “trade-offs” that might come up in Canada’s energy future — such as between affordability and the environment — “many had difficulty understanding why these goals might conflict with one another.”

While 62 per cent of Canadians are interested in buying an electric or zero-emission vehicle, only 32 per cent told the researchers that they had a “strong interest” in purchasing these eco-friendly rides. Four out of ten Canadians had little to no interest in buying an electric car.

It’s kind of a mixed bag, but, overall, what we find is the typical answers: no one really wants to pay for their beliefs.