Climate change: Would you be willing to pay a carbon tax to help fight climate change?

By CBC News

Far more Canadians than Americans believe climate change is real, according to a report released Wednesday by think tanks in the U.S. and Canada.

In Canada, 80 per cent of respondents said they believe in the science behind climate change, the report found. The number was much lower - just 58 per cent - among American respondents.

The report was commissioned by the Public Policy Forum and Sustainable Prosperity, which are both headquartered in Ottawa. It was based on the results of two national surveys of public opinion on climate change.

The results of the telephone survey also revealed a discrepancy in American and Canadian views on how involved government should be in dealing with climate change. While 43 per cent of American survey participants said their national government had a role to play in climate change, 65 per cent of Canadians think their government has a great deal of responsibility to address the issue, and would like to see all levels of government getting involved.

Another key finding is that twice as many Canadians as Americans support both a cap-and-trade system for industry and the idea of paying a carbon tax of up to $50 a month.

Canadians "believe carbon pricing is part of the necessary policy and they're not scared of it," said Alex Wood, Sustainable Prosperity's senior director of policy and markets.

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How serious an issue is climate change for you? Are you surprised by the report's findings? Share your feedback in the comments section below.




(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)