Concerned about unhealthy air, Arizonans overwhelmingly support clean energy

WHITE MOUNTAINS – Arizona residents overwhelmingly support a move toward clean energy and away from coal, and/or costly expenditures on pollution control upgrades for aging coal-burning power plants, according to a poll completed last month.

“Arizona is at an energy crossroads,” said Jennifer Coken, executive director of the Western Clean Energy Campaign, which commissioned the poll. “Some of the coal-burning plants that serve Arizona are almost 40 years old. The state has more solar potential than any place in the country. This is an opportunity for Arizona to become the renewable energy capital in the West and bring good paying jobs while protecting public health.”

The polling underscores public sentiment about energy issues at a time when two of the state’s largest utilities are considering the future of aging coal-burning power plants that provide much of the electricity used in Arizona.

Salt River Project is in the middle of determining the future of the Navajo Generating Station near Page,, a significant source of nitrogen oxide and other pollutants. Because of its age, the nearly 40-year-old plant is facing necessary pollution-control upgrades, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars for each plant. The polling found that Arizonans not only supported renewable energy by a four-to-one margin over coal, but also that they preferred renewable energy over costly pollution controls.

These results are supported by similar numbers from a poll released yesterday by SRP that showed overwhelming support for wind and solar energy by the utility’s customers, and that they’re willing to pay a little more for it. Wind energy is currently being harvested near Snowflake, and more generators are planned.

Arizona Public Service is also currently assessing potential strategies to address emissions issues at the Four Corners Power Plant between Shiprock and Farmington, N.M., one of the largest single sources of smog-causing nitrogen oxide pollution in the country. APS owns 37 percent of the plant, and the EPA is holding hearings at the end of this month to consider pollution-control alternatives.

The public opinion results, Coken said, leave no doubt about the direction that Arizonans think utilities should be heading, particularly considering Arizona’s vast solar energy potential. An overwhelming four out of five Arizona voters feel it is time for the state’s utilities to begin transitioning from coal to renewable energy sources, the poll found.

Also noteworthy, considering the current economic climate, is the belief by a majority of those polled that making the transition to clean energy from coal would create new jobs in Arizona. While the poll found, not surprisingly, that voters place an increasing focus on energy affordability and reliability, they also trust that renewable energy can meet both criteria.

Air pollution was by far the top environmental concern on the minds of Arizona voters, which was reflected in findings that Arizonans feel having affordable electricity is not worth the pollution. According to the American Lung Association, five Arizona counties get Fs for ozone, a dangerous pollutant formed by chemicals emitted by coal-burning plants that can irritate the lungs and exacerbate asthma and other pulmonary problems.

“As the cost of clean energy resources continues to decline, we need to carefully consider whether spending large amounts of money to keep coal-burning plants running on old technology is in the public interest,” said Amanda Ormond, an Arizona-based energy consultant and former director of the State Energy Office. “Arizona has an opportunity to build its clean energy economy, but we’ve got to take steps now that put us on that road.”

The polling, which consisted of telephone interviews with a representative sample of 600 registered voters, was conducted jointly by the Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies and Democratic firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates.

A copy of the polling memo prepared by the two polling firms is available on request.