A new report from Pew Research Center indicates a vast majority of Americans support the construction of more solar farms, but when it comes to coal mining it’s a completely different story.
The comprehensive “The Politics Of Climate” report from the non-partisan think-tank states 89% of U.S. adults surveyed favor expanding use of solar farms, with just 9% in opposition.
” That sentiment bridges the partisan divide, with large majorities from across the political spectrum favoring more use of this alternative source,” say the report’s authors.
Wind power also had a huge amount of support, with 83% in favour and 14% opposed.
The attitudes towards more coal mining were in stark contrast to wind and solar – 57% oppose it. Opposition to more nuclear plants and more fracking was also strong; 57% and 53% respectively.
While most Republicans and Democrats favour more renewables, when it comes to fossil fuels; there’s a strong divide.
“At least seven-in-ten conservative Republicans support more coal mining (73%), fracking (70%) and offshore drilling (76%),” states the report.
With regard to solar power, 4% of home owners surveyed had already installed solar panels and 40% of those without them state they had given serious consideration to acquiring a solar power system in the previous year. As to the reasons for installing solar energy systems, 90% stated it was to save money on power bills and 87% as a way to help the environment.
The attitude toward solar power in the USA, and for that matter, coal, is similar to that in Australia.
A recent Climate Institute report showed 86 per cent of Australians surveyed included solar power as a favoured energy source.
The least favourite? Coal.
Pew Research Center’s “The Politics Of Climate” can be viewed in full here (PDF).
The report comes at an important time, with Americans to go to the polls in November to elect a new president. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have already clashed on solar in the first presidential debate.
Ms. Clinton has big plans for renewable energy, including an ambitious goal of 500,000,000 solar panels to be installed across the USA by 2020. As for Mr. Trump; well, we’re not quite sure what he’s going to do (perhaps he isn’t either) – but the first debate seems to indicate he’s not a huge fan of harnessing the power of the sun.
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