Women business owners understand the importance of
clean energy and are committed to getting the country running on clean energy sources
such as solar, wind, and nuclear, according to the national Women’s Survey on Energy &
the Environment.
The first-of-its-kind survey of 455 women business owners also shows they have
already made their businesses more environmentally responsible, according to Women Impacting
Public Policy (WIPP) and Women’s Council on Energy and the
Environment (WCEE)–the two groups that commissioned the study.
According to the survey, 77% have reduced electricity use at their businesses, 98%
have done the same at home, and nearly eight in 10 (79%) have taken steps to make
their businesses more environmentally friendly.
Barbara Kasoff, president of WIPP, a national bipartisan organization that advocates on behalf
of women and minorities in business, noted, “Many women business owners have taken
significant steps to conserve energy, and they understand the urgent need to move the country
toward clean energy. In order to grow and develop their businesses to the next level, it is
imperative that they have an in-depth understanding of the key energy issues and policy
decisions we are facing today.”
Highlights from the survey include:
- 89% of women business owners think solar energy should play a very or somewhat important role in
addressing our country’s electricity needs. - 86% think the same about wind energy.
- 71% think the same about nuclear energy.
- 54% see moving to cleaner energy as the country’s most important energy policy
goal. - 87% support federal tax incentives for companies to become more energy efficient
and use more clean energy, including 52% who strongly support them. - 63% believe global warming is one of the most serious problems facing the world
and we need to address it now while simultaneously strengthening the economy,
compared with 37% who think we can’t afford to address global warming right now.
In addition to being more supportive of clean energy than women overall, women business
owners emerge as opinion leaders on energy and electricity and have more information than
women who do not own businesses, the survey found, when compared to results of a nationally
representative sample of 801 women 18 or older. For example, 41% of women business
owners are aware that coal is our country’s largest energy source, compared with only 12% of women overall.
Survey Methodology
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, the international public-opinion research and consulting firm,
conducted a national telephone survey of 801 women 18 years or older, and a national web
survey of 455 women business owners. The surveys were conducted between May 14 and 18,
2009. The margin of error for women 18 years and older is plus or minus 3.5%.
Women Impacting Public Policy is a non-profit national bipartisan group with more than half-a-
million members. WIPP is the collective voice in Washington, DC, for 48 national women and
small business organizations.
The Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment is a non-partisan policy-neutral
organization that focuses on women, energy, and the environment.
Loading...