WORLD WANTS NEW ENERGY – POLL

A new poll leaves little room for doubt: New Energy is an idea whose time has come.

The unequivocal conclusiveness of the numbers leaves NewEnergyNews, normally ready to elaborate, with little to add.

The poll finds that majorities around the world want their governments to emphasize New Energy more and coal, oil and nuclear less.

They want their governments to require utilities to obtain more electricity from New Energy sources even if it costs more in the short run.

They want their governments to require businesses to be more energy efficient even if it means products will cost more.

The countries polled represent a cross section of the world’s population, ranging from industrialized (U.S., France, Italy) to emerging (China, India) to undeveloped (Palestinian Territories, Kenya), from big to small, from every continent and from war-weary (Thailand) to rebellion-torn (Nigeria).

Some countries showed such energy hunger as to even want more coal (Argentina , Jordan, Kenya) but only in oil-rich Russia did less than half the people want more New Energy like wind and solar.

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World Publics Strongly Favor Requiring More Wind and Solar Energy, More Efficiency, Even If It Increases Costs; Most think it will save money in the long run
November 19, 2008 (Newswire/COMTEX via MarketWatch)

WHO
WorldPublicOpinion.Org (Steven Kull, director); the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland (U of Md).

WHAT
A new WorldPublicOpinion.Org poll shows conclusively that citizens from nations around the world stongly support government-established requirements for New Energy and Energy Efficiency.

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WHEN
The poll was conducted from July 15 to November 4, 2008.

WHERE
- The poll was taken of citizens in 21 nations: China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, the Palestinian Territories, Poland, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine.
- The poll involved research centers around the world.

WHY
- 20,790 respondents
- The collaborative research project was managed by PIPA at the U. of Md.
- Margins of error: +/-2-to-4%.
- The polls show people around the world favor New Energy and Energy Efficiency even at higher energy costs.
- The people of less than half the nations polled want more nuclear energy, coal or oil.
- A majority of people in every nation polled reject the idea that developing New Energy will hurt their economy and believe it will save money over time.
- The most popular approach (majorities in every country polled but Russia) to the problem of energy: Greater emphasis on solar or wind energy.
- Russians' position on New Energy is defined by the fact that it is, after a century, beginning to enjoy wealth from its oil riches.

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QUOTES
Steven Kull, director, WorldPublicOpinion.Org: "It is quite remarkable that there is such unanimity around the world that government should address the problem of energy by emphasizing alternative energy sources and greater efficiency…Equally remarkable is how little the governments around the world are following the public's lead."
From the press report: “Asked whether they favor the government ‘requiring utilities to use more alternative energy, such as wind and solar, even if this increases the cost of energy in the short run,’ respondents in all but two nations favor the idea, led by South Korea (96%), France (88%), Kenya (87%) and Jordan (77%).”