Clean Energy Canada | Poll: Climate action a net positive for voters in last B.C. election
February 26, 2025

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While the carbon tax was a popular talking point in the most recent B.C. election, it was not a major issue for voters—and all else being equal, British Columbians prefer parties and politicians who will take climate change seriously and pursue clean energy.

This insight comes from a post-mortem analysis undertaken in consultation with Clean Energy Canada and conducted by Professor Matto Mildenberger and Dr. Gabriel De Roche, two Canadian political scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, known for its leadership in environmental politics.

While climate change and energy did not feature during the election, taking these issues seriously still appears to be a net positive for voters. The survey found evidence that downplaying the seriousness of climate change significantly repelled most B.C. voters.

When considering party platform commitments, the average B.C. voter across the political spectrum prefers a provincial government committed to doubling renewable energy and expanding household electrification. Notably, commitments to keep the large polluter carbon tax (while eliminating the consumer carbon tax) was popular with NDP and BC Conservative voters alike. NDP voters also supported using a portion of LNG revenue for clean energy, while Conservative voters were not opposed to the idea.

These results suggest that the government has a clear and broad mandate—extending beyond its own voter base—to follow through on its climate change and energy platform commitments.

METHODOLOGY

  • The analysis is based on a survey delivered online to 1,099 adult residents of British Columbia (aged 18+) between January 9 and 13, 2025.
  • The influence of individual policies on a party’s platform were examined using a technique called a “conjoint experiment.” Conjoint experiments are especially useful in measuring voter preferences in complex situations (like elections) where voter choice cannot be reduced to a single policy issue.
  • Respondents were presented with a randomly generated pair of policy platforms. Because of this randomness, researchers can analyze the effect of including particular policies on the likelihood that a respondent will prefer a platform. 
  • The highest-profile policies pushed by each of B.C.’s political parties, as observed in their media outreach and written platform materials, were tested.

RESOURCES

Survey | Climate Change and the BC Election: A Post-Mortem Analysis

Read the survey