Only two per cent of Canadians believe climate change is not occurring, a new important survey released August 24 by IPAC-CO2 Research Inc. concluded.
The survey comes on
the heels of Alberta Premier Alison Redford's recent push for a National Energy
Strategy, which would address the future of Canada's oil and gas industries,
and its approach to carbon management.
"Our survey
indicates that Canadians from coast to coast overwhelmingly believe climate
change is real and is occurring, at least in part due to human activity"
explained Dr. Carmen Dybwad, CEO of the environmental non-government
organization said. "These findings have been consistent from 2011 and
2012. Canadians care about issues like extreme weather, drought and climate
change."
Opinions about the
cause of climate change and how to combat it are, however, sharply divided
among the provinces.
"Canadians
most commonly (54%) believe that climate change is occurring partially due to
human activity and partially due to natural climate variation," said
Briana Brownell of Insightrix Research, who conducted the survey for IPAC-CO2.
"Residents of
Quebec (44 %), Atlantic Canada (34%) and British Columbia (32 %) are more
likely to believe climate change is occurring due to human activity than those
on the Prairies (Alberta and Saskatchewan 21 %, Manitoba 24 %)."
Canadians are also
divided on what they believe should be the priorities to fight climate change.
A total of 35 % of
Canadians believe the priority should be to promote cleaner cars running on
electricity or low-carbon fuels while only 16 % favored a tax on carbon dioxide
emissions from the whole economy. Support for a carbon tax is lowest in B.C.
(6%) and highest in Quebec (24%).
A key solution
cited by Canadians is Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS, which involves
capturing carbon dioxide from an industrial source of greenhouse gases,
transporting it, and storing it deep in the Earth's subsurface.
A majority of
Canadians agree that capturing and storing carbon dioxide should be compulsory
when building a new coal (59%) or natural gas (57%) power plant, though
Canadians are concerned about the risks associated with CCS.
Quebec residents
(71 %) would be concerned if carbon dioxide was stored underground within 1.5
kilometres to 3 kilometres from their home, while Saskatchewan residents (43%)
were the least worried.
Residents of B.C.
(60%) are most likely to believe that the storage of carbon dioxide represents
a safety risk in the future. Again, Saskatchewan residents (48%) are
significantly less likely to hold this belief.
"CCS is not
the "magic bullet" solution to combat climate change, but the
development of CCS technology represents a necessary step in reducing Canada's
emissions," said Dr. Dybwad.
For a second
consecutive year, IPAC-CO2 contracted Insightrix Research, Inc. to conduct an
online survey of Canadian residents. Survey responses were collected from 1,550
Canadians between May 29 and June 11.
The percentage of
Canadians who are unsure whether or not they would benefit from CCS has
increased notably from 42% in 2011 to 48% in 2012.
Residents of Ontario
are more likely to believe that it would (33%) benefit them, while in Quebec
the reverse is true, where 30% believe they would not benefit from the
technology.
The proportion of
Canadians who are unsure of the effectiveness of carbon capture and storage has
increased notably from one quarter (24%) in 2011 to one third (35%) in 2012.
Despite the
concerns many Canadians have about the technology, Dr. Dybwad remains
optimistic about the future of CCS and its impact on Canada's environment.
"Canadians are
concerned about the risks and benefits involved with CCS, but IPAC-CO2 exists
to ensure that carbon dioxide is stored safely and permanently in the ground by
providing risk and performance assessments of carbon dioxide storage projects."
The
2012 survey on Public Awareness and Acceptance of CSS in Canada now is
available on IPAC-CO2's website at: www.ipac-co2.com/research.
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by International Performance Assessment Centre for Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide (IPAC-CO2).
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