Global Warming on the Left
I’m just going to let some thoughts flow out of my head here, so they may be somewhat half-baked, but let’s see where it goes:
The left of the political debate tend to (correctly) emphasise the issue of global warming far more than the right-of-centre parties. However, given the widespread media hostility towards climate change, I’ve begun to wonder how this might translate into the likelihood of support for left-wing parties.
According to statistics from the Guardian:
In 2010 37% said many claims about environmental threats were ‘exaggerated’, up from 24% in 2000. [Link]
The change in attitudes has been starker in the US: the percentage of Americans who believe climate change is taking place has plummeted from 71% to 51% in recent years. [Link]
There seems little doubt that much of this hostility is driven by the aforementioned media outlets, particularly from the likes of the Mail and Express. Their arguments - which are widespread - are persuasive to the public perhaps due to the fact that the predicted effects of climate change are both imminent, yet still mostly intangible.
There appears to be few other issues where the scientific community remains in almost total agreement, yet a vocal minority of dissenters are given an extensive platform to spread their climate-skepticism. One could write an entire dissertation on the effects of capitalism and neoliberalism on this debate, but I don’t really have the time, and others have already done a far better job than me.
Given this rather toxic public discourse, might voters therefore be dissuaded from supporting those parties (the Greens, for example) which place a strong focus on climate change. I’m not too sure how big of a problem is is myself, but I think it’s something worth thinking about.
The recent chorus of outrage towards David Cameron from conservative back-benchers and party activists as a result of his support for same-sex marriage suggests that a single issue can indeed drive potential supporters away to alternative parties.
If this dichotomy is what results for the left as a consequence of their support for policies to reverse climate change, then a strategy must be devised.
Just as David Cameron originally attempted to “detoxify” the Conservative Party by the inclusion of socially liberal policies into their manifesto as a diversionary tactic, perhaps the left needs to detoxify public opinion with far greater focus on educating the public on the dangers of climate change. (This would require a certain amount of fighting fire with fire, which would be a large challenge in a capitalist media which closely reflects the views of owners and advertisers.)
However, by hammering home these points it might just allow these parties to gain the votes of those who, whilst already agreeing with much of the manifesto, avoid placing an cross on the ballot paper due to unfounded fears of excessive green-taxes, conspiracy theories of BBC indoctrination and nightmares of vegan anarchists installing windfarms in every back-garden against the will of the electorate.
Your thoughts are welcome on this, folks!
