Conservatives are not on board for net zero. Not at all.
This kind of mischaracterization of conservatives serves to placate normal people into treating conservatives as if they are also normal people. It is harmful misinformation.
The question that matters is this: Does it matter for a fraction of them, so that it can split voters off and change who holds power?
If the answer is yes, then it’s a big deal.
I’ll concede that elections are won on margins. I agree that is a big deal.
I just think it’s important to not pretend conservatives in any large way are capable of changing their dangerous viewpoints. To survive, we’ll need to work around them rather than focusing all of our energy in trying to move them. But, if a few can be moved without wasting all of our time and energy on them, then that is great.
This is a good comment piece and well worth engaging with whatever your politics.
Of course, given how Sunak is currently behaving, it also shows that if you’re a Conservative who’s concerned about the environment you should probably just… vote Labour.
Most tory voters view on net zero is just the “No Take! Only Throw!” meme. They agree we need to reduce carbon emissions and reach net zero, but the minute you ask them how, they come up with a weak reason to not do anything. I’m starting to think they truly belive we can just plant enough trees and it will all be fine, keep pumping out CO2
