Canadians give the green light to real action on climate change: Poll

Sixty-eight percent of Canadians report that they have personally experienced climate change, and they expect their federal government to get with the program and do something about it.

A poll published in late September says "Canadians Tell Harper: Stand with EU, Not Bush on Climate Change."

The Harris/Decima poll, conducted by Allan Gregg for ClimateforChange.ca, found that "fully 61% of Canadians believe that Canada should be aligned on the international stage with European countries and other nations committed to establishing further Kyoto-like targets. Only 25% of those surveyed believed that Canada should continue the Harper policy of joining nations like the United States and Australia who oppose setting future Kyoto-like targets.“

“Canadians want our Prime Minister to quit running with the wrong crowd when it comes to international efforts to combat climate change,” said John Bennett, Executive Director, ClimateforChange.ca.

Furthermore, 81% of respondents said that "Difficulty in achieving targets is no reason not to try" (p. 22).

And 67% of respondents want any shortfall from the first Kyoto period (2008-2012) added to our post-2012 targets.

Findings demonstrate a widespread dissatisfaction with the Harper Conservatives’ climate change agenda despite a year of persistent effort by the government to rebrand itself on the issue and to undermine support for the Kyoto Protocol. The Canadian public continues to hold a strong belief that Canada should remain part of the Kyoto Protocol. Recognizes that the government has failed to regulate industry and is abandoning Kyoto.

Significantly, 68% of respondents feel that the "motivation of federal Conservative government for environmental changes and announcements" is "Trying to win votes."

And "87% of Canadians rank ‘protecting the environment’ as either an important or very important issue when it comes to how they intend to cast their vote in the next federal election."

Poll highlights:

• p. 3 - The environment is "the most important issue facing Canada today" by a huge margin.
• p. 5 - 87% rate "Protecting the environment" as very important/important in voting decision (tied for first place with improving healthcare)
• p. 8, 11 - 68% report that they have personally experienced climate change and that the effects of climate change are occurring now.
• p. 9 - 50% say that climate change is caused primarily by human and industrial activity; another 37% say human and industrial activity plus natural forces. Only 9% say primarily natural forces.
  
• p. 13 - 76% think the oil & gas industry should take responsibility for reducing carbon emissions; 70%/federal government; 70% big business
  
• p. 19 - Perceived motivation of federal Conservative government for environmental changes and announcements - 68% say "Trying to win votes"
• p. 21 - 58% say 2020 is too late to achieve reduction targets
  
• p. 22 - 81% say "Difficulty in achieving targets is no reason not to try" and 90% say"even if we can't meet targets, we should not be giving up" (p.27)
  
• p. 23 - 67% say "Any previous shortfall [reaching Kyoto targets] should be added to our post 2012 commitments"
• p. 24 - 61% say "Canada should be siding with European countries who want to further Kyoto-like targets"
• p. 25 - 92% say "we owe it to future generations to tackle climate crisis now"
  
• p. 25 - 89% say "morally wrong for Canada not to show leadership and reduce emissions"
• p. 25 - 88% say "the Canada I would like is an international leader not a big polluter"
  

Source: http://climateforchange.ca/?q=MR-09-24-2007

(Poll conducted August 15-21, 2007. Sample size=1,000. Margin of error = +/-3.2%)