Analysis of DECC findings from a public survey on attitudes to climate change and energy security.
In March 2012, the DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) set up a public tracking survey to monitor public attitudes to climate change, energy efficiency and other main DECC business priorities. One set of questions was asked quarterly and the other questions asked annually, all done using face to face interviews with households in the UK.
Wave One of the findings was published on July 9 2012 and the results are not at all encouraging. For the purposes of this article, we will concentrate on people’s attitudes to climate change and energy security. A further article on attitudes the DECC found in people regarding energy efficiency in the UK, will follow shortly, as this in itself, deserves a discussion of its own.
Disconcertingly enough, to quote the DECC summary of main points ” Few see energy supply and climate change as the biggest challenges facing Britain today (3% saying energy supply and 2% climate change versus 43% unemployment) “. This is interesting, as the amount of jobs now being created as a direct result of initiatives aimed to combat climate change, is becoming a significant part of the employment mix in the UK.
For example, the Green Deal is providing a host of opportunities for people to learn and train as Green Deal advisor’s and suppliers around the country and the amount of firms that have recently sprung up, directly related to this, is significant. If we go over to the renewable power industry and examine the amount of jobs that have been created through technologies such as Solar PV, Wind Power and Biofuels, to name but a few, then unemployment can only have been helped by the drive towards combating climate change in the UK.
Article by Paul Patane for Just EPC
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