The United Nations website tells us that fossil fuels are “by far the largest contributor to global climate change.” Promoting and enacting pro-renewable energy policy is undoubtedly one of the primary ways we can deal with the increasingly urgent problems of climate change.
The majority of the populations of both the U.S. and the U.K. evidently understand the need to move towards a renewable energy model for their countries. According to the DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker, 80% of British adults support the use of renewable energy as of the summer of 2025. The Pew Research Center has reported that 86% of American adults support expanding wind and solar power as of May 2025.
However, in a time of rising international far-right sentiment, that support is falling. According to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, it is primarily Republicans that back the expansion of oil and gas production, with 64% saying that they would support the federal government in this endeavor. The institute refines this by further showing that it is actually 80% of Republicans older than 60 that would support this, and only 39% of those ages 18-29. We can reference the Pew Research Center again to see that this Republican support for fossil fuels comes amid a significant dip in their support for renewables; there was a 20% decline in GOP support for building more solar panel farms between 2020 and 2024, after a sharp dip at the beginning of Biden’s term.
In a similar vein, according to a study from King’s College London, Ipsos, and the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, support for the U.K.’s promise to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050 has fallen from 54% in 2021 to 29% last month. Over the course of a year, “support for low-traffic neighbourhoods, taxes on those who fly more, subsidies for electric vehicle purchases, and a tax on environmentally damaging foods all declined, with opposition to some of these measures now greater than support for them.” The same article reflects a conclusion shared with the University of Chicago, that anti-environmental sentiment seems to be more common among older people than younger people. Again, in a worryingly similar comparison, supporters of Britain’s far-right Reform UK party were the least likely to support pro-climate policy. They are the only political group without a majority wishing to achieve net zero by 2050 or earlier. Their manifesto says that they intend to “scrap Net Zero and Related Subsidies,” though this is based on a false money-saving statistic.
The motivation for this shift in attitude in the U.S. and U.K. seems to originate in a perception that there will be some unforeseen consequences should the two countries move away from reliance on fossil fuels and an attitude of climate skepticism. Reform counselors in the cities of Nottinghamshire and Kent, England, have moved to outright climate change denial, as reported by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, bringing this uneducated and damaging rhetoric back into the mainstream. Neara also reports a rise in the ‘Not-in-my-backyard’ (NIMBY) mentality: the idea that people want green solutions without the consequence of having a potential eyesore in the countryside or on the coastline near residences. While this is understandable, one cannot both have their cake and eat it. One cannot want a healthy ecological environment while also pushing the solution off to be someone else’s problem. One of the largest windfarms in the U.K. (located on the coast that I’m from) was built between 2015 and 2018 and increased tourism, according to the BBC, due to the unusual view. People are also concerned about the immediate cost of the net zero plan to their energy bill. The Guardian reports that this is not necessarily true, and that the cost of avoiding net zero by 2050 could be significantly higher in the long run, meaning we would have to pay, literally, for the cost of worsening climate change. According to Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, “the Climate Change Committee suggests reaching Net Zero by 2050 would cost less than 1 per cent of GDP each year through to 2050.”
As of 2023, 72% of American adults thought that, “a major shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in the U.S. would come with some difficulties for the country,” according to the Pew Research Center. Some of this thinking appears to come from anxiety around, and desire for, energy independence. They do, however, think that an increase in renewable energy infrastructure would increase air and water quality and create jobs. Again, it is prices that bring concern: 42% of Americans think that the move would increase their energy bills, and 44% think that it would increase the prices of everyday goods. In general, the perception of climate change as a major national issue in the U.S. seems to be declining. In a separate study, the Center found that climate change came 11th out of 16 options, ranking behind illegal immigration and the state of moral values, when respondents were asked to name the top issues facing the country. In 2024, only 36% of people said it was a big problem, 11 points lower than in 2021. After even more time spent under a Trump administration, this figure may well be even lower.
There is so much evidence online, on the TV, and at our fingertips 24/7 to aid our understanding of solutions to the climate crisis and to help us understand the solutions that our governments are and aren’t implementing. We need to ensure that all of us have at least a basic awareness of what our leaders are doing, and how their political leanings affect the choices that they make for all of us. It doesn’t matter what side of the Atlantic we are on: The right wing is not making climate choices that protect us financially or physically. They are simply ignoring science.
