Polling Shows MT Voters Favor Renewable Energy

Billings, MT . . . Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund (MCVEF) today released findings of an energy poll, conducted by Belden, Russonello & Stewart that surveyed 600 very likely Montana voters from September 6th through 14th, 2006.

 

The poll shows that developing more reliable and affordable sources of energy is an extremely high priority for Montana voters – on par with improving health care and a higher priority than improving schools or even gaining better paying jobs in the state. And Montanans overwhelmingly favor developing renewable energy like wind energy and biofuels over increased coal development.

 

“Concerns about energy have been front and center in political campaigns this year,” said Theresa Keaveny, Executive Director of MCVEF. “We undertook this poll to learn about Montanans’ views of some of the key energy policy debates facing the legislature, city and county government, the Schweitzer Administration and Congress,” she said. “Montanans are giving a clear and unambiguous message that they want our policy makers to focus on reliable, affordable energy, coming from renewable sources and efficiencies.”

 

Regarding the overall findings, pollster John Russonello wrote: “The message to take away from this survey is that Montanans hunger for more reliable and affordable energy. These themes are a high priority for Montana voters, along with the development of clean and renewable energy. Given a choice of energy policy, most voters would prefer the development of renewable energy types [such as wind, solar, and biofuel] (68%) over cleaner coal technologies (28%).“

 

OTHER KEY FINDINGS:

 

• Montana voters are more interested personally in creating energy that is reliable (83% very important) clean and renewable (77%) and affordable (75%) than energy as a source of economic development for the state (45%).

 

• A majority of voters (56%) believe that they pay higher energy bills than do consumers in other states, and almost all (88%) agree that by investing in energy efficiency technology consumers will save money.

 

• They reject the notion that wind energy is too expensive or too unreliable to be a major source of fuel in Montana (67% disagree). Also, large majorities (73%) agree that biofuels are more reliable than oil as an energy source.

 

• When it comes to who Montanans would listen to about energy issues, more Montanans choose Governor Brian Schweitzer than any others from a list provided in the survey (40%). After the Governor, Montana voters are more likely to listen to conservation groups (22%) than to their local power company (16%) or to the Chamber of Commerce (8%).

 

• Montana voters would rather have our national energy policy reduce the need for oil by requiring cars and trucks to get better gas mileage (66%) than rely on finding more places to drill for oil on public lands (28%).

 

• Closer to home, they broadly approve of stricter anti-pollution requirements on Montana power plants (69% approve, 23% disapprove), relevant to the Board of Environmental Review which is currently considering rules affecting mercury pollution and the Department of Environmental Quality, which is processing permits for new coal plants.

 

• Broad majorities would support their communities running city vehicles on cleaner biodiesel fuel, even if it cost more money (71% in favor, 21% opposed). This issue will likely be on the ballot next year for Billings residents, and other communities like Missoula are turning towards biodiesel.

 

• An overwhelming proportion of voters (85%) take the side of farmers and ranchers who want a requirement that coal bed methane producers clean up waste water, and a small percentage (10%) side with the natural gas industry that says more regulation is unnecessary.

 

• Reducing global warming pollution is very important to many Montana voters (25% top priority). It is a particularly high priority among younger voters (<35 years old), and has increased in importance to voters from earlier MCVEF polling. Solutions to global warming pollution gain more voter support, six in ten voters (60%) support placing caps on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and industry in order to reduce global warming pollution;

 

• A clear majority (58%) would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports this type of carbon dioxide emissions cap, while only 22% say they would support one who opposes the cap.

 

Kathy Hadley, an energy expert and a member of the MCVEF Board of Directors, added “we hope that policy makers, candidates and public officials look carefully at the views of Montanans expressed in this poll as they move forward to craft a sensible energy policy for our state.”

 

In summary, Montanans want reliable, affordable energy, developed in a way that puts Montana, not energy companies, first. And they want it to come from clean, renewable sources, and from the use of energy efficiency technologies that are less destructive of Montana’s land and water.

 

Input for the poll was provided by a team of organizational representatives from the National Center for Appropriate Technology, Montanans for a Healthy Climate, Northern Plains Resource Council, Sierra Club – Montana Chapter, Montana Environmental Information Center, Montana Public Interest Research Group and the Western Organization of Resource Councils.