Despite the popularity of electric cars, Norwegians refuse to give up oil

Norwegians own more electric cars per capita than people in any other country in the world. But even the obsession with electric cars did not persuade them to give up mining and move into the future without oil. According to a recent poll, 55% of respondents in Norway, the largest oil producer in Western Europe, want a survey of new deposits to continue. The results come as Norway prepares for the September parliamentary elections, with oil policy being a key point in the election debate. The Norwegian parties are also preparing to discuss oil in the light of the global debate on fuel and climate change within the UN. The current Conservative government argues that Norway should continue to look for deposits as long as oil yields profits. At the same time, the world is trying to "digest" the latest findings of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which show that the planet is warming much faster than expected and that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to to avoid a climate disaster. Norway, the richest country in Scandinavia thanks to its oil fields, acknowledges that the IPCC report "confirms the seriousness of climate change" and has invested some money in renewables in an effort to reduce emissions. However, the current government insists that oil wells will still be needed. On the other hand, higher carbon prices may mean that such a survey will be unprofitable sooner than originally expected, said Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Most opinion polls suggest that Solberg's conservative coalition is ending after eight years in office. But with the majority of voters supporting oil, the left-wing opposition, more in favor of climate protection, will run into problems if they try to curb this most important sector of the Norwegian economy. The main opposition Labor Party, which according to polls should lead the future government, argues that reducing demand for fossil fuels will be the main lever to reduce production. And it points to the expected decline in oil exports as proof that Norway needs to change its strategy. However, other and left-wing parties that could be part of the coalition have even more explicitly expressed "the desire to abandon fossil fuels." Last week's report by the world's top climate scientists sounded like a "death knell for fossil fuels," said Lars Haltbrekken, a member of parliament for the Socialist Left Party, shortly after the IPCC published its report. According to him, a radical change in the national oil policy is a "realistic" perspective.