35% of the French declared themselves climate skeptics - Le Figaro

The survey also shows that nuclear proponents are recruited especially in this category.

More than a third of French are climate skeptics, and they are, they tend to support nuclear power, shows the barometer of opinion on energy and climate in 2013 issued by the Commissioner General Sustainable Development (CGDD). It should be recalled that no scientist denies the existence of climate change. But climate skeptics have questioned the role of human activity in this development, arguing instead that it is a fluctuation due to solar rhythms, as there could be some in the past. The debate between scholars also addresses the consequences of this change and how to confront it.

Some 61% of French people believe that global warming is a reality and it is caused by human activities, which is the dominant position supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) , according to the Barometer dated August 2013. But 35% of respondents did not agree: 13% believe that climate change is “not proven” and 22% agree to observe the climate disruption, but felt that “there is no evidence that is due to human activities. ” About 4% have no opinion on the matter.

climate skeptics are mostly represented among those with no education (53%), and 70 years and over (48%). Note that “nuclear proponents are recruited mainly among climate skeptics,” says the CGDD. Also, among those who believe that global warming is not proven, 58% rather see benefits to nuclear power, while the figure is 45% for those who hold the position of the IPCC.

the use of the atom, the French are divided: 47% say that this energy “rather benefits” such as energy independence and the low cost per kilowatt-hour, against 40% who find it “more drawbacks “citing a risk of serious accident and the issue of radioactive waste. Some 13% of respondents had no opinion. According to the barometer established since 1994, the only time the number of French reluctant to use nuclear exceeded its supporters was measured three months after the Fukushima accident of March 11, 2011. In October 2012, the balance was again 12 + for the French rather supporters of the atom.