The study, the "2013 Canada-US Comparative Climate Opinion Survey," was produced by Canada 2020, Université de Montréal and three US policy research groups. In all, researchers surveyed 1,500 Canadians and 1,000 Americans found that 42 percent of Americans would pay no premium for green power from wind and solar, compared with 18 percent of Canadian respondents.
When probed on their willingness to pay, 23 percent of Canadians would pay $50 more a year and 24 percent would pay $100, compared with 19 percent and 16 percent for Americans, while 16 percent would pay $250 more, compared to 11 percent of Americans; 8 percent would pay $500, compared to 4 percent of Americans; and 4 percent would pay more than $500 extra a year, compared to 1 percent of Americans.
In addition, 81 percent of Canadians believe there is solid evidence of global warming, while only 61 percent of Americans believe this to be the case.
There is “less concern within these populations than one might expect given the more alarming claims of leading climate scientists,” and the report highlights “wide and enduring differences” between the two countries in terms of support for climate policy and willingness to pay for low-carbon solutions.
“Canadians are more likely than Americans to support key policy tools such as carbon taxes, cap and trade systems and renewable energy standards” and Canadians appear to be “more convinced, more concerned and more willing to do something about climate change than their neighbors in the US,” it says.
Large majorities (82 percent in Canada and 79 percent in the US) support renewable portfolio standards when no cost is assigned but, when a $100 per year cost increase is attached to the policy, support decreases by 34 points to below majority level in the US, while the decline is only 10 points in Canada.
Opinions in Canada have changed little since the last survey was done in 2011, although support for renewables has declined in the US since the last survey there in 2010.
Despite their perceptions of rising global temperatures, a substantial number in both countries continue to question the extent of humans, but strong majorities want their federal governments to sign an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Canadians are twice as likely as Americans to support a carbon tax (although they remain evenly split on this approach to pricing carbon) and Canadians are equally divided on cap-and-trade, though they are more likely to support this policy than Americans.
“These latest data provide substantiation for the support of renewables in Canada,” says Bill Eggertson of the Canadian Association for Renewable Energies. “It is particularly encouraging in light of the growing alarmism shown in Ontario and elsewhere, where wind and solar are being blamed for rising electricity rates.”
“It is a pity that no surveys ask about willingness to pay for green heat solutions from geothermal and solar thermal, because thermal energy has a much greater potential for consumers than electricity,” adds Eggertson.
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