Americans “overwhelmingly” prefer solar and wind energy to coal, oil, and nuclear energy, according to a Harvard political scientist who has conducted a comprehensive survey of attitudes toward energy and climate for the last 12 years.
Americans see natural gas as a bridge fuel that falls somewhere in between, offering some benefits over traditional fuels but more “harms” than solar and wind, said Harvard Government Professor Stephen Ansolabehere during a December appearance at the University of Chicago.
“Americans want to move away from coal, oil and nuclear power and toward wind and solar,” said Ansolabehere, introduced as “the leading energy political scientist in the world” to climate scientists, physicists, economists and public-policy experts at The Energy Policy Institute of Chicago (EPIC). Ansolabehere described solar and wind energy as “hugely popular, overwhelmingly popular.”
So popular, in fact, that they easily cross the partisan divide that polarizes Americans on so many other issues. About 80 percent of Americans said they want solar and wind energy to “increase a lot,” and another 10 percent or so want it to increase somewhat.
“In order to get 90 percent, that means a lot of Republicans like solar and wind—more than coal. Everybody likes those sources. This is non-partisan.”
And yet virtually every Republican politician is voting against renewable energy and arguing for more exploration and continued reliance on coal.
Gee it's almost like somebody is buying them off or something.
We installed 5 KW of solar panels and bought a Chevy Volt. So the solar takes care of the hot water, appliances and car in our house. It's a great feeling. The federal government ought to be promoting solar for any building that's got a good roof.
ReplyDeletePS We do not live in a warm climate. Solar panels work even where it's very cold, like this morning when it's 13 degrees!
As an atheist, most of the time I find living in SC to be a political and religious nightmare. However, living here has one HUGE advantage. The overwhelming amount of my hot water and heat comes from solar.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that my house isn't the greatest thing in the world, being only around 1200 square feet, but I redid the insulation (added quite a bit, actually) and then built a rather large solar system. Is it perfect? no. Do I pay for heat? Hot water? For the most part, no.
I save approximately $1100 a year on my kerosene bill.
Leland, you crack me up. "As an Atheist, most of the time."
DeleteGood for you, using solar. And you know what? As long as you're comfortable and happy there, that's really all that matters.
Here's another example of postings going lost. I wrote something like this the same day 7:58 commented.
Delete@7:58.
I sincerely hope you are being factitious, because anyone with a knowledge of grammar would recognize that the comma being placed right after the word atheist essentially separates the preceding clause as a stand alone phrase. My sentence could also be said as "Most of the time, I find living in SC as an atheist to be...." OR "Most of the time, I find living as an atheist in SC...."
Of course, if you ARE being factitious....
Of course they're being bought off, and they think we're too stupid to see it.
ReplyDeleteI thought the politicians were supposed to represent their constituents, not the lobbyists.
ReplyDeleteBlah Blah Blah
ReplyDeleteYet you dem dummies have allowed the right wing to take over the damn country by NOT voting. Serves y'all right.
We did vote. But the big money interests bought nasty, lying, ugly ads for the Repubs. And guys like Brownback won even with Kansas going bankrupt. What's the Matter with Kansas? Uninformed voters that believe on faith that FOX and the ONE % are looking after them. BS, BS, BS. All that ol' time religion, also, too.
DeleteRJ in BBistan
I think you might check into something called "Interstate Crosscheck" and the last election. This appears to have had an effect on the election.
DeleteWhen you have all the polls (adjusted for statistical accuracy) saying that the majority of Americans are for progressive policies such as equal pay, raising the minimum wage, investing in renewable energy, stopping wars, gun control, drug reform, education reform, immigration reform, equal rights including marriage equality - and yet we see extreme conservatives being voted into office at local levels, and the SC and Congress making judgements and pushing forward legislation that is in direct opposition to what Americans want. Can you say Corporate Fascist nation?
ReplyDelete