Canadians chagrined over status as climate-change dawdlersGlobe and Mail: On the eve of major UN climate change talks next month in Copenhagen, a major survey of Canadians has found that more than three quarters of the public feel embarrassed that the country hasn't been taking a leadership role on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions...
The survey was compiled by Hoggan & Associates, a Vancouver-based public-relations firm... The finding is a message to federal Environment minister Jim Prentice and the Conservative government, says Jim Hoggan, president... Even in Alberta 65 percent of respondents agreed with a statement that 'it's embarrassing that we are not doing more to curb emissions.' Support for the view was highest in Quebec, at 86 per cent. 'I think they underestimate the levels of people's concerns about our international responsibility,' he said in an interview.
Mr. Hoggan said the Conservatives have been out of step with public sentiment on climate change virtually from the moment they took office in 2006. Early on, the Conservatives repudiated the Kyoto Protocol... to which Canada is a signatory. And rather than develop an independent Canadian position on combatting global warming, Mr. Prentice has said he wants to tailor domestic action on emissions to policies developed in the US...
A substantial majority said that in tough times governments and business need to make a 'top priority' of both economic and environmental issues, such as climate change. That view was held by 67 per cent, compared to the 33 per cent who felt that during a slump, the best course would be to fix the economy first...
The polling also found an overwhelming majority of the public shares the assessment of the scientific community that global warming is a major threat to the planet. A total of 72 per cent thought the impacts of climate change 'are going to be very serious.'... There was also strong support for the view that 'most scientists agree that human activity is the primary cause of climate change,' a position held by 62 per cent of the public...
The survey also found a great deal of public skepticism about corporate environmental claims, with 83 per cent believing that most company pronouncements on their sustainability claims 'are more for public-relations purposes than actual results.'
