08/24/2012
Clean Edge News
Wide majorities of Republicans across the United States
and in key “swing states” believe that advanced energy is
important for the nation’s economic future and want
policymakers to focus on fostering these solutions,
according to new surveys of likely voters nationwide and in
swing states. The surveys, conducted for the Advanced Energy
Economy Institute (AEEI), found that 85 percent of
Republicans nationwide and in 12 key swing states believe
advanced energy – defined as energy products, technologies,
and services that are secure, clean, and affordable over the
long term – are very important or somewhat important to
America’s future. At the same time, 88 percent of political
independents and 96 percent of Democrats believe advanced
energy is important to America’s future.
The surveys also found that four in five Republicans (80
percent) across the country think it’s important for U.S.
political leaders to do more to further advanced energy. In
swing states, the number was virtually identical with 80
percent of Republicans saying our leaders must to do more to
foster the growth of advanced energy. For the next
President, 74 percent of Republicans nationwide and 72
percent in swing states believe it’s very or somewhat
important for whoever is elected as the nation’s chief
executive to make growing and developing advanced energy a
top priority.
Additional results from the surveys include:
- 79 percent of Republicans describe the nation’s
dependence on foreign oil as a crisis (21 percent) or a
major problem (58 percent). Only 17 percent believe it
is a minor problem. For Democrats and Independents, 83
percent and 82 percent respectively believe our reliance
on foreign oil is a crisis or a major problem. In swing
states, 82 percent of Republicans believe we are in
crisis or a major problem while only 13 percent believe
it’s a minor problem.
- 58 percent of Republicans in swing states believe
the nation is in a state of crisis or has major problems
when they describe how electricity is made in the U.S.,
including its cost, reliability, safety, public health
and environmental impact. 65 percent of Democrats
described the situation as in crisis or major problems;
61 percent of Independents described the situation in
those terms. For the general U.S. population, 59 percent
described the nation’s status as in crisis or with major
problems.
- 61 percent of Republicans across the nation and in
swing states believe that gasoline will cost more than
$5 pergallon five years from now; 35 percent believe the
price will be more than $6 per gallon. (Similar numbers
were reported across all political demographics).
- 90 percent of Republicans believe it is very
important or somewhat important for America’s future to
be a leader in developing, manufacturing, and deploying
advanced energy products like batteries for power
storage, solar panels and turbine components; only 6
percent described it as “not very” or “not important at
all.” In swing states, 83 percent of Republicans believe
these solutions are very or somewhat important.
The online surveys were conducted by John Zogby and JZ
Analytics for Advanced Energy Economy Institute from August
15-17, 2012. The national survey included 1,052 US likely
voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage
points. The swing state survey of 1,200 likely voters was
conducted in the states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa,
Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Full
survey results are available at
www.AEE.net.
© Clean Edge, Inc.
http://www.cleanedge.com