A newly released study reveals that most people in the US, no matter their political leanings, are more in concert with each other about the future of energy and not nearly as divided as the media and politics of it all would have the world believe.
It’s a “bedrock of public opinion” that “any transition, on any timetable, will have to deal with,” according to its authors, Roger Pielke Jr. and RUY Teixeira, of the American Enterprise Institute. Findings from a new YouGov survey indicate that most voters’ views differ quite a bit from those of rapid energy transition advocates.
The gist of the survey reveals that:
1. An “all of the above” approach to energy policy has by far the most voter support and shows remarkable stability and common support across voter groups. American voters across demographics and partisanship strongly prefer an “all of the above” approach to energy policy including oil, gas, renewables, and nuclear. Less than a quarter support a rapid transition to renewables, which drops to under a fifth for working-class (non-college) voters.
2. On extreme weather events, most voters have not accepted the apocalyptic reporting found in the media and pushed by climate activists.
3. American voters are reluctant to pay even a small amount to support climate action and this willingness drops quickly as the proposed small costs increase. When asked if they would support just a $1 monthly fee on their electricity bill to fight climate change, only 47 percent say they would while 43 percent are opposed. When the proposed fee is increased to $20, voter support plummets to 26 percent with 60 percent opposed.
4. Voters expect an energy transition away from fossil fuels to lead to unexpected problems. About two-thirds think problems are likely. A follow-up question indicates that voters are most worried about the impact on the prices of energy and everyday goods and about the impact on the reliability of the electrical grid.
5. Overall, the public is much more favorable on both solar and natural gas than on wind, suggesting that the concept of “renewables” masks some important differences.
Solar energy tests the best among five energy sources that voters were asked to rank. Thirty-eight percent of voters ranked solar first. Natural gas did the second best, picked first by 26 percent of voters. Nuclear energy came third (15 percent ranked it first) followed by wind (10 percent) and coal (6 percent). Coal is clearly the least preferred energy source with 38 percent ranking it dead last among options. Wind and nuclear also have strong opposition with, respectively, 19 percent and 29 percent ranking the technology their least favorite option.
6. In terms of the energy they consume, cost and reliability are way, way more important to voters than possible effects on the climate.
Given four choices, 37 percent of voters said the cost of the energy they use was most important to them and 36 percent said the availability of power when they need it was most important. Just 19 percent thought the effect on climate of their energy consumption was most important and 6 percent selected the effect on U.S. energy security.
7. In terms of proposals to mitigate the effects of climate change, getting to “net zero” as quickly as possible is relatively unimportant to voters. Only 29 percent, fewer it was important, while 32 percent said that “limiting the burden of regulations on business” was very important. Voters were most likely by far to say keeping consumer costs low (66 percent) and increasing jobs and economic growth (60 percent) were very important aspects of climate mitigation proposals.
8. Climate change as an issue has very low salience to voters. As a “top priority,” dealing with global climate change ranked 15th out of 18 issues.
9. Voters support increased domestic production of fossil fuels. By 22 points (56-34), voters favor more domestic production of fossil fuels—oil and gas. Working-class voters felt even more strongly, endorsing the idea by 30 points.
10. Voter interest in electric heat pumps, hot water heaters and stoves, as well as electric vehicles, is weak. Asked whether they had given serious thought to making certain “green” changes in their home within the past 12 months, 75 percent of voters said they either had not given serious thought or that it was not relevant to them.
Voters by 17 points (52-35) say they are opposed to phasing out new gasoline cars and trucks by 2035 and many more voters are upset (48 percent) than excited (21 percent) by the idea of phasing out production of gas-powered cars and trucks. By 18 points (59-41), voters say they are not likely to even consider purchasing an electric vehicle as their next car. Just 10 percent say they now own an electric vehicle and two-thirds of those are hybrid rather than fully electric.
