Washington Post Poll: Most Americans Happy Living with Clean Energy

Again, polling showing what I’ve seen all along.
Americans appreciate the need for clean energy, as well as the undeniable benefits that solar and wind projects bring to their communities.

Media has not been doing a good job of reporting this, as they have been drawn to the “man bites dog” story of “Oh, you mean people don’t want a clean environment? Wow, that’s news!”

Washington Post:

As renewable energy becomes more widespread in the United States, large and bipartisan majorities of Americans say they wouldn’t mind fields of solar panels and wind turbines being built in their communities, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

Three-quarters of all Americans say they would be comfortable living near solar farms while nearly 7 in 10 report feeling the same about wind turbines. And these attitudes appear to remain largely consistent regardless of where people live. According to the poll, 69 percent of residents in rural and suburban areas say they would be comfortable if wind turbines were constructed in their area, as do 66 percent of urban residents.

General comfort with green energy infrastructure crosses party lines, with 66 percent of Republicans saying they are comfortable with a field of solar panels being built in their community and 59 percent comfortable with wind turbines. Among Democrats, 87 percent are comfortable with solar farms and 79 percent with wind farms. By contrast, fewer than half of Democrats or Republicans would welcome a nuclear power plant in their community.

In the United States, widespread support for renewable energy appears to have been fairly consistent over the years, said Leah Stokes, an associate professor of environmental politics at the University of California at Santa Barbara. But while backing renewables remains popular among many Americans, experts say progress can be impeded by a small, yet vocal, opposition, which can be driven in part by the sentiment of “Not in My Backyard,” or NIMBYism.

“Deploying lots of renewable electricity is not a slam dunk,” said Doug Vine, director of energy analysis at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. “We know things like permitting reform and NIMBYism are a challenge for renewable electricity and transmission projects. The closer that these projects get to where many people are, the more challenges that can arise.”

The United States is the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, and one-quarter of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions come from electricity generation. President Biden has set a goal of eliminating carbon pollution from the U.S. power sector by 2035 — a target that necessitates a massive shift from fossil fuels.

Many Americans appear to recognize the critical role renewable energy sources play in reducing emissions and combating climate change. According to the Post-U-Md. poll, the more concerned people say they are with climate change, the more likely they are to feel comfortable with wind and solar farms being built in their communities.

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Climate denial remains a major theme among “anti” clean energy groups, but not all the farmers I see siting clean energy do it for climate reasons. Many of them are still not on board with the climate message, although that is changing.

For most in rural communities, the most obvious benefits are the revenues that these projects bring to local Fire Departments, Sheriff Patrols, roads, schools, libraries and senior services.