Are Petrolheads Lagging Behind the Public on Climate Change?

Data suggests car enthusiasts are less likely to care about the general public. Photo by Mitch Kemp on Unsplash

Often, statistics that re-enforce stereotypes are unhelpful to civil discourse – without the support of a vast sample size. However, a recent YouGov poll indicating car enthusiasts care less about the environment than the general public is a trend that can be seen outside the UK, leading many to take notice of the data.

“According to YouGov data, it appears that car enthusiasts are less likely to have positive attitudes towards climate change – but not much less. Just over half (56%) of Brits interested in cars agree that climate change is the biggest threat to civilisation compared to 62% of the general public.”

Jack Cousens, 33, Head of Roads Policy AA, said: “There are fewer moving parts in an electric vehicle which means that they are easier to maintain and there is a clear financial benefit to owning one.

“There are numerous studies showing how clearly EVs are benefitting the environment and we know this from looking at the research done by our partners.

“We need to be asking what we can do to recycle the EV batteries that are being produced. Battery production jobs are high skilled and there is an opportunity for Britain to become a world leader in the industry.”

The environment is damaged through many of humanities creations, however, very few cause as many problems as petrol-cars. Transport causes more CO2 emissions than any other sector and yet the production of cars is continuing to increase – this causes a huge carbon footprint as a result of the need for the production of materials such as steel, rubber, and glass.

“In addition, two in five (40%) American motorheads consider themselves environmentalists in contrast to 47% of the population. The same can be said for Great Britain, with car enthusiasts less likely to identify as environmentalists (33% vs 39%).”

One of the few compromises available to drivers are electric vehicles. Some electric cars are able to run 100% on sustainable, renewable sources. Furthermore, EVs are more efficient, converting roughly three times as much energy into power as a petrol-car.

The issues around EVs come into play on the consumer-end, companies such as Tesla attempting to monopolise charging stations is an example of how ‘affordability’ has taken the back seat to car companies. The cheapest available Tesla is upwards of $70,000 with very little information on Elon Musk’s promised “affordable zero-emission electric car” being released.

James Cox, 20, Car Enthusiast, said: “Sustainability is very important, and it should be for everyone. I’m not in a situation currently where I would be able to have an electric or a hybrid car, they’re just too expensive.

“I feel that anyone who has the money and is still using a petrol-car should make the change as it is an available option, and we can see what petrol cars are doing to the environment. This is also a time where people are being encouraged to change cars all the time, the production of those cars will have a huge impact on our sustainability.

“In the UK for example, it is the biggest threat to us. You can see that there is proof there. Just look at the weather nowadays, it can change so drastically. It’s not something we can ignore until it’s more of a disaster.”

Clearly, the landscape around us is changing and although there will not be a time when everyone agrees about where the finger should be pointed over climate change; we cannot allow tribalism to infect us with the cognitive dissonance that shapes people in a society to choose petrol, plastic, and pesticides over the need to make our planet a habitable environment once again.