{"id":442172,"date":"2026-05-01T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T18:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=442172"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T18:00:08","slug":"claim-only-conservatives-who-dont-like-liberals-oppose-climate-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=442172","title":{"rendered":"Claim: Only Conservatives who Don\u2019t Like Liberals Oppose Climate Action"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 reducing hostility toward the other side (particularly among conservatives) may facilitate cross-ideological climate coalitions. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Climate policy isn\u2019t partisan \u2014 research suggests more on the right support it than oppose it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published: April 29, 2026 2.09am AEST
Emily Huddart<\/a> Professor of Sociology, University of British Columbia
Tony Silva<\/a> Associate Professor of Sociology, University of British Columbia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change has become entangled in partisan politics. In Canada, as in other countries, climate concern and support for climate policy are often coded as left-leaning positions<\/a>. Meanwhile, climate change skepticism or denial is more likely to be espoused by those on the political right.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we found that having ties to the oil and gas sector did not significantly predict their support for climate policy. Likewise, the degree of conservatism \u2014 whether someone identified as centre-right or far-right \u2014 didn\u2019t make conservatives less likely to support climate policy either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What mattered most was affective polarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative feelings toward the left and positive feelings toward the right were by far the strongest predictors of climate policy attitudes, and explained the most variation in support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In simple terms, people on the right who felt the most hostility toward the left, and the most warmth toward the right, were more likely to oppose climate policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/climate-policy-isnt-partisan-research-suggests-more-on-the-right-support-it-than-oppose-it-280912<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The abstract of the study;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Negative partisanship, positive partisanship, and variation in climate policy attitudes on the political right<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Huddart<\/a> , Tony Silva<\/a> , Parker Muzzerall<\/a> , James N Druckman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PNAS Nexus<\/em>, Volume 5, Issue 4, April 2026, pgag094, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/pnasnexus\/pgag094<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published:
28 March 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservatives are more likely than liberals to oppose climate policies, resulting in political polarization over climate change. Most research treats this gap as if it reflects two cohesive blocs on opposite sides of an issue. Drawing on original survey data from a probability sample of Canadians (n<\/em>\u00a0= 2,503), we find that while liberals are highly uniform in their orientation toward climate policies, conservatives are far more heterogeneous. Further analyses reveal conservatives\u2019 policy positions strongly correlate with their partisan affect\u2014both the extent to which they dislike opposing liberals (negative partisanship) and the extent to which they like fellow conservatives (positive partisanship). These findings highlight the importance of considering variation within, and not just between, political sides. The results additionally suggest that reducing hostility toward the other side (particularly among conservatives) may facilitate cross-ideological climate coalitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:\u00a0https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pnasnexus\/article\/5\/4\/pgag094\/8553701<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The study appears to assume conservatives who oppose climate action are irrational. From the first paragraph of the study \u2013 \u201c\u2026 Climate mitigation policy in democratic nations requires coordination and compromise between political elites, scientific experts, and citizens. Yet sound public policies are often rejected due to partisan or ideological divides<\/strong>.<\/em> \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The determination of whether someone was conservative was based on self identification \u2013 \u201c\u2026 We use \u201cliberal\u201d and \u201cconservative\u201d to denote respondents\u2019 self-placement on a 0\u201310 ideological scale<\/strong> (0 = extremely liberal\/left, 10 = extremely conservative\/right), rather than formal party affiliation \u2026\u201d<\/em>. This introduces some obvious potential biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unsupported assumption that climate policies are \u201csound\u201d, and by implication that opposition to climate policies is irrational, is the key mistake which led the study authors to an erroneous conclusion.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first heard of the climate crisis I was concerned. It was when I heard the absurd proposed solutions \u2013 solar panels and wind turbines \u2013 and heard and read claims that nuclear power was too dangerous<\/a>, that I started digging deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the world was truly on the brink of a climate catastrophe, how could the risk of a few nuclear meltdowns possibly be worse than a global warming mass extinction event?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t long to discover the truth of the situation. The reality is claims we are in the midst of a global warming crisis are just as irrational as green opposition to nuclear power. The world is in no danger of overheating \u2013 our world has been locked in the Late Cenzoic Ice Age<\/a> for the last 34 million years, an ice age which shows no sign of ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why would awareness of these facts lead to feelings of hostility towards climate activist politicians?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ongoing affordability crisis in renewable enthusiast regions like Europe more than demonstrates a world with energy systems dominated by wind and solar would be a world locked in a permanent economic great depression, with industries crushed by the cost of unreliable energy, by having to continuously start and stop the engine of society depending on hour by hour changes in the weather. Not the kind of world most people would want to leave to their kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study authors considered none of this.<\/strong> By blindly assuming climate policy proposals are sound, by inferring respondents who opposed climate action did not have rational reasons for that opposition, without bothering to ask what those reasons are, the study authors confused cause and effect. The study authors leapt to the false conclusion that opposition to climate policy is motivated by emotional prejudice against liberals<\/strong>, without considering the possibility those negative feelings are motivated by reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The claim\u2014that opposition to “climate action” stems primarily from conservatives who personally dislike liberals, rather than substantive disagreements\u2014is a reductive framing often pushed in academic or activist circles. It attempts to pathologize dissent as tribal animosity instead of engaging with policy, economics, science, or risk assessment. Polling and real-world outcomes show a clearer picture: a large, persistent partisan gap exists, but it’s rooted in differing priorities, views on government intervention, economic trade-offs, and skepticism about alarmist framings and specific prescriptions\u2014not mere “dislike.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":442173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691842705,691818994,691818056,691819716,691820154,691834347,691842704],"class_list":{"0":"post-442172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-affective-polarization","9":"tag-climate-action","10":"tag-climate-change","11":"tag-climate-policy","12":"tag-conservatives","13":"tag-liberals","14":"tag-partisanship","16":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0-Claim-Only-Conservatives-who-Dont-Like-Liberals-Oppose-Climate-Action.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1R1O","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":213589,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=213589","url_meta":{"origin":442172,"position":0},"title":"Claim: Democrats Stayed True to Climate Action Because They Resisted Offers of Money","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/15\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The New Yorker claims big oil money started the US partisan climate policy split. 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