Those advocating for a green transition have, in recent years, had to contend with not just economic or political resistance, but ideological push back as well — specifically, from those adhering to the “ideology of fossil fuels.” The ideology of fossil fuels is characterized by an inability to imagine life, or progress, without petroleum products. In politics, this ideology influences the positions of left and right alike. It even encourages those on the centre-left to support oil and gas while also endorsing green energy. In Alberta, we saw this when former Premier Rachel Notley enthusiastic ..read more

Geshas/Shutterstock It’s difficult to tell if the recent wave of anti-vegan sentiment has affected the plant-based meat market, but denigrating the image of vegans has certainly gone mainstream. Alongside negative comments about people who don’t eat meat by figures like Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson, anti-vegan rhetoric has even slipped into political discourse: Suella Braverman recently referred to supporters of Just Stop Oil campaigners as “Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati”. It seems our protein choices have become a surprisingly loaded issue. These days, consumers are faced with a ..read more

Burberry was one of the first Western companies to announce it was suspending sales in Russia after the invasion. Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Companies led by liberal-leaning CEOs were more likely to leave Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 than those helmed by conservatives, according to our new study. We measured their political leanings based on how much they donated to the two main U.S. political parties over five recent federal election cycles. In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 20 ..read more

There's a more sophisticated way to understand how Americans divide themselves politically. Torsten Asmus/ iStock / Getty Images Plus Are Americans really as politically polarized as they seem – and everybody says? It’s definitely true that Democrats and Republicans increasingly hate and fear one another. But this animosity seems to have more to do with tribal loyalty than liberal-versus-conservative disagreements about policy. Our research into what Americans actually want in terms of policy shows that many have strong political views that can’t really be characterized in terms of “right” or ..read more

Clive Hamilton personifies the Australian progressive “public intellectual”. He’s a prolific author of opinion articles and books, concerned “to make a difference in the world” by persuading people to engage with “powerful ideas”. His memoir describes almost 40 years of activism. The tone is often confessional: he admits to an introvert’s terror at electioneering and a white progressive’s anxiety about what to say to Indigenous people. Despite this, Provocateur is most of all a narrative of “ideas in action”, embodied by one individual. Review: Provocateur: A life of ideas in action – Clive Ha ..read more

Attendees pray during a worship service at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Anaheim, California, on June 14, 2022. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong With an abortion case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Southern Baptist Convention of June 2022 encouraged its members to pray for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in the U.S. The resolution, “On Anticipation of a Historic Moment in the Pro-Life Movement,” was not without controversy, however. A faction of Southern Baptists who consider themselves “abortion abolitionists” argued the Convention ..read more

Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND Political commentators often use the idea of a political spectrum from left to right as shorthand for understanding political ideologies, parties and programs. Derived from the arrangement of the National Assembly in the French Revolution, it has been a remarkably resilient form of political shorthand. Is it useful is explaining what has happened in the 2022 Australian federal election? The customary way of considering such matters has been to regard the Liberals and Nationals as parties of the right, and Labor and the Greens as parties of the left. Ter ..read more

Feeling fracktious. John Gomez Gas is hugely important to the UK. The country uses more than 65 billion cubic metres to heat most of its 25m homes and generate around a quarter of its electricity each year. Despite efforts to move to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, demand for gas is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. Until 2004 all the gas the country needed was sourced from the UK, primarily from the North Sea and East Irish Sea. Since then, production has declined to the point where indigenous gas provides only 45% of the total. The shortfall comes from Europe ..read more

Nurses in November 2016 expressed support for a ballot proposition to limit what California state agencies pay for prescription drugs. AP/Nick Ut, file As Americans watch the Brexit-related political turmoil in the United Kingdom, it is important to remember that the chaos there began in a form of direct democracy. When U.K. voters set in motion their exit from the European Union, they did so by voting directly on the so-called “Brexit” initiative. Normally, such major policy would have been initiated, deliberated and voted on by their elected officials in Parliament. The Brexit mess is an exa ..read more

After having arguably been one of the most powerful fear factors exploited by the Leave campaign during the EU referendum, the debate on immigration is continuing apace during the UK general election campaign. Given its central role in the campaign thus far, immigration will clearly continue to shape Brexit policy after June 8 – and free movement is likely to remain one of the UK government’s red lines in the forthcoming negotiations with the EU. Anti-immigrant politicians often say they simply want a “debate” on migration. Yet targets around net migration are being proposed without a rational ..read more