The Public Won't be Gaslit on Net Zero Any Longer

Growing public skepticism is not due to politicians "politicising" the issue

According to the Times this week, a “soaring number of Britons” believe that “global warming [is] exaggerated”. The article is based on YouGov polling commissioned by the newspaper, and many of the results are quite stark. For example, whereas in March 2021, 51% of respondents supported the banning of new petrol and diesel cars to force the 'transition' to EVs, in June this year, 58% now oppose it. But much more is revealed by this piece than the statistics representing a shift in the public mood.

The poll is bad news for the Government’s green agenda, because it seems that the closer to green Utopia we get, the less the ungrateful hoi polloi are content with the destination. And, as has been consistently shown by polling throughout the era of green policymaking, support for the agenda is almost entirely dependent on respondents' belief that the policies will not affect them.