79% of BCers agree: 'economic changes brought about by COVID provide an opportunity to do more now to fight climate change.' But check this out: while 84% of @bcndp voters agree with the statement above, so do 77% of @bcliberals voters. ( @BCGreens = 95%.) Thread below. #bcpoli

That relatively narrow difference in opinion was quite consistent across a number of questions we asked with @stratcom_ca (802 British Columbians polled). Why does support cut across party lines? Across BC's left and right? I have two theories.

First: 2017 and 2018 were BC’s worst wildfire seasons ever. Many of the regions most affected were in the interior, ridings that tend to swing to the Liberals. For BCers, climate change evolved from an abstract problem to one that—in some cases—literally impacted their backyard.

I heard this in focus groups we did in Kamloops and even from my cab driver from the airport, who told me that he’d felt like a prisoner in his own home when wildfire smoke blanketed his city. Things, he said, were different now.

And the second reason for strong cross-party support? Perhaps it's the fact that economic benefits increase support for climate action across the political spectrum. See the work of @leahstokes and others: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab81c1

Among @bcliberals voters, 48% say climate action will make the province more competitive in the global marketplace, versus only 30% who consider it a disadvantage. The gap is even bigger among undecideds (41% versus 14%).

What does this all mean? It means there's no lane for a party in BC that wants to go backward on climate action. With a provincial election creeping ever closer, parties would be wise to pay attention. Here's the blog post: https://cleanenergycanada.org/in-b-c-support-for-climate-action-cuts-across-political-lines-heres-why/