Poll finds little support for new coal-fired power plants in North Carolina
Four out of five North Carolina residents -- including 74 percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats, and 82 percent of Independents -- say the state should focus on increased energy efficiency, conservation and sustainable energy sources before building new coal-fired power plants.
That's among the findings of a new poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corp. for the Civil Society Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Massachusetts. The results were released today -- Earth Day, of course -- by the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, a Durham-based group that's fighting to stop Duke Energy from opening a new coal-fired power plant in the western part of the state.
The poll also found that 69 percent of North Carolina residents would pick wind or solar energy if they could decide where to invest money for new electric power generation. In addition, it found that 59 percent of the state's residents -- including majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike -- would be more likely to vote for a political candidate who spoke out against Duke's plans.
"The pressure to cancel Cliffside will keep growing as the public learns the intensity of our climate crisis," said N.C. WARN Director Jim Warren. "We urge [Duke CEO Jim] Rogers to avoid dragging Duke Energy through a four-year battle against the people of North Carolina."
But when it comes to educating the public about Duke's plans, Warren and his allies have their work cut out for them. The poll found that two-thirds of North Carolina residents have little or no awareness of the company's intention to build the Cliffside facility. Only 34 percent said they were aware of the plans, with just 9 percent "very aware."
That's among the findings of a new poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corp. for the Civil Society Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Massachusetts. The results were released today -- Earth Day, of course -- by the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, a Durham-based group that's fighting to stop Duke Energy from opening a new coal-fired power plant in the western part of the state.
The poll also found that 69 percent of North Carolina residents would pick wind or solar energy if they could decide where to invest money for new electric power generation. In addition, it found that 59 percent of the state's residents -- including majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike -- would be more likely to vote for a political candidate who spoke out against Duke's plans.
"The pressure to cancel Cliffside will keep growing as the public learns the intensity of our climate crisis," said N.C. WARN Director Jim Warren. "We urge [Duke CEO Jim] Rogers to avoid dragging Duke Energy through a four-year battle against the people of North Carolina."
But when it comes to educating the public about Duke's plans, Warren and his allies have their work cut out for them. The poll found that two-thirds of North Carolina residents have little or no awareness of the company's intention to build the Cliffside facility. Only 34 percent said they were aware of the plans, with just 9 percent "very aware."
Labels: climate, coal, Duke Energy, global warming, Jim Rogers, NCWARN, polls
Appalachian Voices' novel legal approach is based on a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires regulators to consider the environmental impacts associated with the entire cycle of coal-generated electricity, which in Duke Energy's case includes mining coal through mountaintop removal. Duke is the nation's third-largest consumer of coal mined via that method, in which explosives are used to blast off mountaintops, with the resulting debris dumped into adjacent river valleys. The practice has already destroyed more than 470 mountain peaks, buried or polluted more than 1,200 miles of headwater streams, and wiped out some 800 square miles of diverse ecosystems in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.
