As the USA seeks to consolidate its domestic energy industry, a nation-wide poll has revealed two-thirds of Americans support solar and wind power over oil and nuclear energy.
Production of coal proved least popular, with just one in three people surveyed supporting it as the primary solution to future energy independence.
The Gallup poll asked respondents to categorise the emphasis they believe should be placed on a range of domestic energy production sources.
The poll found an overwhelming 76 percent of all Americans wanted more emphasis placed on producing domestic energy using solar power, followed closely by wind energy (71 percent), then natural gas (65 percent), oil (46 percent), nuclear (37 percent), and coal (31 percent).
Support for varied along political party affiliations and regions: 87 percent of Democrats want solar power to be the USA’s top energy priority, versus 29 percent of Republicans. Among Democrats and Independent voters, solar is the clear favourite, while Republicans want to see more emphasis on exploiting the country’s natural gas resources.
When polled by region, the Gallup poll found where people live affected their support for different sources of energy. Respondents in the Southern states were more inclined to support oil, natural gas and coal production, but 74 percent still favoured prioritising solar energy.
It seems a political divide remains between those supporting oil production (Republicans 71 percent; Democrats 29 percent), along with natural gas (Republicans 78 percent; Democrats 59 percent). The poll notes that with solar and wind energy still some way from being able to provide baseload power to the national grid, this divide could prove problematic for the USA’s domestic energy independence.
“The United States has a great opportunity to accelerate its economic growth over the next several years by emphasizing and fully using its enormous energy riches to produce domestic energy. But there has been no consensus among Americans about how to optimize domestic energy production while preserving the environment.”
