"Media coverage of net zero is more than twice as likely to be negative than public attitudes and is driving a false perception that net zero policies are unpopular with voters, the analysis found. This echo chamber of elite opinion has led to a situation where MPs significantly underestimate public support for climate policies and overestimate public opposition to local clean energy infrastructure projects."
"The British public continues to support climate action, and politicians risk fighting the wrong battle if they assume otherwise. The real danger is not public opinion—it is elite division and media narratives creating a false sense of risk."
"The UK's increasingly assertive far right caricatured net zero as a threat to UK sovereignty. At the same time, a general association with progressive cultural politics sorts it into a category of woke issues such as immigration and gender that are instinctively and reflexively mistrusted by those on the political right."
Analysis reveals a significant disconnect between political elite opinion and public support for net zero policies. Media coverage of net zero is more than twice as likely to be negative compared to actual public attitudes, creating a false perception of voter backlash. This media-driven echo chamber causes MPs to underestimate public support for climate policies and overestimate opposition to local clean energy projects. The far right and conservative politicians have successfully framed net zero as a threat to sovereignty and associated it with progressive cultural politics, portraying opposition as defending ordinary voters against elites. However, research shows the British public continues supporting climate action, and the real danger lies in elite division and misleading media narratives rather than genuine public opposition.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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