By Tom Mcghie
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A pernicious combination of falling living standards and soaring energy prices is beginning to have inevitable consequences.
We are starting to abandon ‘greenery’ and embrace practical matters such as cheaper electricity and security of supply.
Calls to become the cleanest country in Europe are starting to be ignored as households in fuel poverty â€" those that pay more than ten per cent of their income on energy â€" are again reaching record levels.
That is what makes a YouGov poll for EDF Energy and seen by Financial Mail so fascinating.
It shows public interest in global warming is nose-diving, with only 59 per cent saying they were interested in the subject compared with 72 per cent four years ago.
As a vivid illustration of this shift in attitudes, it reveals a dramatic fall in backing for wind farms as a clean source of power, with net support falling from 53 per cent to 40 per cent in 12 months.
At the same time it shows a growing support for nuclear energy, despite the Fukushima crisis in Japan last year.
It seems the message that renewable energy costs more, at least at the start, is beginning to get through. This will be music to George Osborne’s ears as the cash-strapped Chancellor slashes subsidies to wind and solar power.
While this is good news for EDF, which is spearheading our nuclear-building programme, it is potentially a huge threat to the nascent renewable energy industry.
Already Denmark’s Vestas has shelved plans to build a wind turbine factory in Sheerness, Kent.
There is also growing evidence that a dash for gas will be better received by the public, even though Britain could become dependent on foreign supplies as North Sea reserves shrink.
The YouGov poll shows growing support for building new power stations up a percentage point to 39 per cent.
This change in mood could not have come at a better time for intrepid shale gas explorers like Staffordshire-based Cuadrilla. It has discovered huge reserves near Blackpool.
By a remarkable coincidence, a high-powered team of academics and engineers from the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society has given a conditional green light to the controversial shale gas fracking technique. This involves injecting water and chemicals underground at extreme pressure to split rocks and release gas.
This will cheer the Chancellor as a new supply of cheaper home-produced energy becomes available. Today America is almost energy self-sufficient as a result of shale gas fracking.
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