If the next President and Congress are going to continue to invest in energy through subsidies, tax breaks and other incentives, the focus should shift from coal and nuclear power to promoting wind and solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, hybrids and other highly fuel-efficient cars, according to a new national survey.
The survey, conducted for CLEAN and the Civil Society Institute (CSI) by the U.S. survey firm Opinion Research Corporation, indicates that more than four out of five Americans want to see government aid for wind and solar power put on the same or better footing as coal-fired and nuclear power plants.
In addition nearly three out of four Americans (73%)–including 64% of Republicans, 82% of Democrats and 68% of Independents–would support “a five-year moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in the United States if there was stepped-up investment in clean, safe renewable energy–such as wind and solar–and improved home energy-efficiency standards.”
"Americans deserve credit for understanding that more investment by the federal government in coal and nuclear power is essentially the same thing as investing in subprime mortgages," Civil Society Institute President and Founder Pam Solo said. "If U.S. taxpayers are going to directly or indirectly underwrite energy development and energy-intensive industries–such as the auto industry–we need to insist that the next Congress and President make good, solid investments that make sense for the long-term of our country. The only energy investments that rise above the ‘subprime’ level today are wind, solar and other clean renewable energy in concert with enhanced energy efficiency."
The national survey findings echoed separate state-specific surveys conducted for CLEAN and the Civil Society Institute by ORC in the key coal country states of West Virginia and Kentucky, where West Virginia residents oppose blasting the wind farm site at Coal River Mountain.
More than three out of five West Virginia residents (62%)–including 50% of Republicans, 69% of Democrats and 68% of Independents–oppose Governor Manchin’s decision against stopping "Massey Energy from using mountaintop removal coal mining to level a section of Coal River Mountain that could have been used for a wind farm …"
Only 35% of state residents support the Governor’s decision. While 15% of state residents strongly support the inaction on Manchin’s part, a much larger 39% are strongly opposed to it.
As Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear frames a new energy plan for his state, the #1 priority identified by the largest number of Kentucky residents is "transitioning to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind" (43%), with the second most-popular priority being "increased emphasis on energy efficiency/ cutting wasted energy" (30%). Few state residents picked nuclear power (7%) and "more coal mining" (12%) as their top priorities.
Opinion Research Corporation Senior Researcher Graham Hueber said: "Taken together, the three surveys being released today suggest that national attitudes about energy and climate action vary relatively little when you drill down into views of the two chief coal states of West Virginia and Kentucky. In fact, in some respects, the residents of the two states that we focused on are even more inclined than other Americans to look beyond coal and other carbon-based fuels to renewable energy sources."
The CLEAN/Civil Society Institute survey is based on the findings of a telephone survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation’s CARAVAN omnibus. The survey was conducted among a sample of 1,006 adults (503 men and 503 women) aged 18 and older living in private households in the Continental United States. Interviewing was completed September 12-15, 2008. The survey was weighted by four variables: age, sex, geographic region and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total population. The margin of error for surveys with samples of around 1,000 respondents, at the 95% confidence level, is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Smaller sub-groups in any survey will have larger error margins.
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