Climate of the nation 2013: Australian attitudes on climate change

This report argues that a growing majority of Australians think that their country should be a leader in finding climate solutions. Executive summary Since 2007, The Climate Institute has conducted comprehensive research into Australian attitudes to climate change and related policies. We have published a number of Climate of the Nation reports tracking attitudes and actions as they have evolved. This year’s report builds off a quantitative poll conducted in early June and rolling qualitative research over the last 12 months. The 2012 research was conducted in the heat of the toxic and speculative debate leading up to the introduction of the carbon laws. A year later we find that two-thirds of Australians think that climate change is occurring and almost all of them believe that it is impacting Australia now. People are genuinely worried about the cost impacts of extreme weather and climate change on everyday concerns such as crop production and food supply, insurance premiums, water shortages and climate refugees. Climate change is not perceived as a major issue in this election, but it is also clear that there is no basis from which to call the election a “referendum on the carbon tax”. Only around a third of Australians think that the carbon laws should be repealed and more oppose a double dissolution to get rid of them than support one. The “carbon tax” itself is not a major reason for supporting a Coalition vote. “Economic mismanagement”, “lies and incompetence” and the “carbon tax lie” are cited as far stronger reasons. Opposition to carbon pricing is dropping. While support remains soft, it strengthens significantly when the policy is explained. This matches the findings of other recent polls. A year into the laws, there is evidence that Australians do not believe that carbon pricing has been as financially detrimental as they anticipated. This holds true at both the household and national level. While a smaller majority still think they are worse off, those that think they are much worse off has dropped significantly. Overall, cynicism and confusion about carbon pricing is still dominant. But it is decreasing, perhaps because of some recognition of declining national emissions and increased renewable energy investment since the start of the laws. Today, more people want to give carbon pricing a go than get rid of it. Indeed, more Australians want greater action and leadership than in recent years. This is a departure from a year ago, when Climate of the Nation 2012 found an electorate that was largely fatigued with the politics of climate change and scared about the rising costs of living. This year the number of those agreeing that Australia should be a world leader in finding solutions to climate change is significantly higher, and in fact higher than in April 2010, immediately prior to the deferral of emissions trading legislation. Despite the toxic politics, 60 per cent still think the Federal Government should be playing a leading role. Only 6-8 per cent of Australians believe that local, state or federal government should take no action. Strong majorities recognise that doing nothing on climate change will increase the risks and that there are economic opportunities in acting in areas like renewable energy. Significantly, appreciation of the economic benefits and jobs associated with a strong renewable energy industry is not contingent on acceptance of climate change, or even that humans are responsible for it. Despite some attacks on renewable energy, wind in particular, there is overwhelming support for renewables. That enthusiasm is high across ALP, Green and Coalition voters. Support this year is even stronger for wind and solar as preferred energy sources. Support for both nuclear and coal has declined, while Australians remain divided over gas. Results from the focus groups and national poll behind Climate of the Nation 2013 indicate a clear acceptance that climate change is happening and that humans are contributing to it. Twice as many trust the science than don’t. There remains confusion about carbon pricing, however, and most Australians still believe that there are too many conflicting claims amongst scientists for the public to be certain. This is despite the fact that 97 per cent of published climate research accepts the science¹. Almost as many think the seriousness of climate change is exaggerated as do not. Notwithstanding these differences of opinion, the underlying call for climate action is relatively resilient. It may grow stronger after the election, with the issue of the “carbon tax lie” resolved along with an emerging understanding of reduced emissions, increasing renewable energy investment and growing international carbon and clean energy policies

Temporal Stability of Recreation Choices

We evaluate the stability of coefficient and willingness to pay (WTP) estimates for recreation services over two time periods. To address this question, we estimate a Random Utility Maximization (RUM) model of recreation demand, using two datasets from different time periods, but concerning the same study area. We then compare the estimation results and evaluate the temporal stability of preferences that drive recreation choices. The two datasets are on trips made by Delaware residents to beaches in the Mid-Atlantic region: Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and Northern Virginia. The first dataset was collected using a mail survey in 1997 and the second dataset was gathered through an Internet survey in 2005. Besides the time periods, and the survey methods, there are also significant sample size differences between the two datasets. In the 1997 sample, 400 Delaware residents made at least one day trip, while in the 2005 dataset, only 50 Delawareans visited the beaches of interest.recreation demand, nonmarket valuation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q51, Q26,

Climate of the nation 2014 - Australian attitudes on climate change: are Australians climate dinosaurs?

Synopsis: Are Australians climate dinosaurs? Climate of the Nation 2014, benchmarking Australian attitudes to climate change, finds that political leaders risk being stuck in the past as public attitudes on climate change and its solutions are on the rebound. In mid-2014, more Australians think that climate change is occurring and are concerned about impacts, present and future. There is a rebound in desire to see the nation lead on finding solutions and a strong expectation of government to address the climate challenge. Opposition to carbon pricing has continued to decline and there is a decline in the minority supporting repeal. For the first time more support carbon pricing than oppose it, even though there is lingering confusion around it

Mythological Thinking and Archetypes in the Contemporary Bulgarian Nestinarski Ritual Complex

The paper examines mythological thinking in the contemporary performance of the ancient ritual complex of nestinarstvo in Bulgaria. As the folk tradition is transformed into freshly “invented” forms in the village of Stomanevo, it has been influenced by “external” factors such as individual cultural elements as well as by globalization, in particular easy access to information and the flow of esoteric literature into Bulgaria in theaftermath of communism. The rite is further molded by distinct psychological factors that constitute fundamental and dynamic conditions necessary for the tradition to be preserved and to evolve. This ritual is a living example of a community phenomenon with roots in the collective unconscious and based on archetypal structure. While its “outer” traits may vary, the “core”remains the same, representing a mosaic of universal values anchored in space and time

An Open Virtual World for Professional Development

The paper presents a study that focuses on the issue of sup-porting educational experts to choose the right combination of educational methodology and technology tools when designing training and learning programs. It is based on research in the field of adaptive intelligent e-learning systems. The object of study is the professional growth of teachers in technology and in particular that part of their qualification which is achieved by organizing targeted training of teachers. The article presents the process of creating and testing a system to support the decision on the design of training for teachers, leading to more effective implementation of technology in education and integration in diverse educational contexts. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): H.4.2, I.2.1, I.2, I.2.4, F.4.1.∗This article presents the principal results of the Ph.D. thesis Open Virtual Worlds for Professional Development by Eliza Stefanova (Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Sofia University), successfully defended at the Specialized Academic Council of FMI on 10 December, 2012

Voting "à la carte": Electoral Support for the Radical Right in the 2005 Bulgarian Parliamentary Elections

This paper explores the sources of votes for radical-right parties using the example of electoral support for the Attack Party in the 2005 Bulgarian parliamentary elections. It expands theoretical propositions on the presence of extremist parties in electoral politics by proposing an analytical model which explains radical-right voting as the result of disequilibria between political supply and voter demand in the electoral market. The paper argues that support for the radical right represents unmet voter demand and combines à la carte elements of single-issue politics, xenophobia, protest and charismatic political agency in electoral choice valid for individual voters but not for clearly identifiable cohorts of voters. The paper examines the evidence on electoral support for the Attack Party against the premises of the à la carte model – the structure of electoral competition, radical-right political agency, and voter preferences – and finds that the radical-right vote in the 2005 election validates its key proposition: electoral support for the radical right lacks coherent social structure and correspondence between voter expectations and party programmatic appeal. Based on the Bulgarian case study the paper concludes that the ability to offer voting choices à la carte, regardless of its ideological positions and the political expectations of its own electorate represents a resource for the sustained presence of the radical right in the electoral market

Paradise Lost In Africa and in Europe, with Brett Bailey, the Mesmerizer, in Charge

This article aims at introducing the extraordinary talent of South African director Brett Bailey by recreating the second installment of his Exhibit series – a unique art-and-politics event that has been stunning and disconcerting European audiences – and by presenting a firsthand account of the main developments in his work, from his first show Zombie until now