Coal basin in Upper Silesia and energy transition in Poland in the context of pandemic: The socio-political diversity of preferences in energy and environmental policy

• Published in: Resources policy Vol. 71; p. 101987
• Main Authors: Żuk, Piotr, Żuk, Paweł, Pluciński, Przemysław
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Clean energy; Coal; Coal basin; Context; COVID-19; Decarbonisation; Energy; Energy policy; Energy sector; Energy transition; Environmental policy; Left wing politics; Morbidity; Pandemics; Populism; Public opinion; Residents; Right wing politics; Supporters; Upper Silesia; Poland; Energy sector; Decarbonisation; Upper Silesia; Coal basin; Energy transition
• ISSN: 0301-4207; 1873-7641
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.101987

The article presents the results of research conducted on a representative sample of Polish society and concerning their attitudes towards energy policy, the role and importance of coal, the preferred energy model and the future of Upper Silesia, which is the largest active coal basin in Europe. The context of the COVID 19 pandemic, which caused high morbidity among miners, popularised the challenge of energy transition in Poland, where energy continues to be largely based on coal. The authors defend the thesis that the main lines of conflict regarding the demand to move away from coal are political and ideological at the level of public opinion. The advocates of the coal status quo are supporters of the right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) and Confederation (Konfederacja) parties. Left-wing and liberal groups are most conducive to energy transition and ecological demands. Residents of large cities, as well as better educated and less religious people are more open to energy transition. Despite the divisions regarding the date of abandoning coal in Poland, there is social agreement that the government should financially support the activities transforming Upper Silesia into a region producing clean energy. •Right-wing populist supporters are defenders of coal in the Polish economy.•Poland remains the largest producer and consumer of coal in the EU.•45% of Polish society support the environmentalists' demand to abandon coal by 2030.•Political and ideological conflicts block energy transition in Poland.