A significant majority of Australians are concerned about the impact of the climate crisis on food supply, agriculture and insurance premiums, and support policies that would force fossil fuel companies to pay for the damage they are causing, according to the Australia Institute’s 2023 Climate of the Nation report.
The benchmark Climate of the Nation report is Australia’s longest continuous survey of community attitudes to climate change.
Australians support the government introducing new policies that would make the fossil fuel industry pay for its contribution to climate change, including: a polluter-pays tax a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry, and; a levy on fossil fuel exports to fund climate adaptation.
75% of Australians are concerned that climate change will result in more expensive insurance premiums, while 21% are not concerned.
“Climate of the Nation 2023 comes at a time when Australians are facing unprecedented challenges on multiple fronts, most notably from the cost-of-living crisis. Despite these pressures, a strong majority of Australians want more ambitious climate action.”
This is encouraging, sure, but these kind of questions are one step above “Do you want free money?” in terms of usefulness to actually change things.
Making them pay could force things like:
- Cost increases (whether fair and reasonable or not, they may just increase them anyway)
- Higher regulation squeezing local businesses
- Shortages of things you are used to having
- Certain things like cruises, vacations to another continent being stopped for everyone
- No more out-of-season food unless you’re rich
And on and on. Climate change is a problem we can’t tax the fat cats to get ourselves out of. Of course, they’ll sell you that because it’s nice to blame the mythical, supposedly souless “corporation” and “1%” for every single ill in the world, but this is something that everyone perpetuates.
Will people actually support limiting measures once they realize they have to sacrifice too?
