A
new poll
says 94% want new energy balanced with clean air and water, 86% want to shift from coal and nuclear to wind and water power, and 79% are concerned about shale gas fracking affecting water quality.

A few excerpts from the PR

Water is High Priority for Bipartisan Majority of Americans,
10 January 2013,

• 92 percent of Americans think “U.S. energy planning and
  decision making” should be based on “a comprehensive
  understanding of what our national water resources are”
  — a national water roadmap that Congress asked for, but which
  was never produced. The national water roadmap attracts the support
  of 92 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Independents, and 94
  percent of Democrats.
• 86 percent of Americans want leadership on shifting from coal and
  nuclear energy to wind and solar. Support for this approach exists
  across party lines, including 72 percent of Republicans, 83 percent
  of Independents, and 97 percent of Democrats.
• 86 percent of Americans “support more studies of the health
  and environmental consequences of the chemicals” used in
  fracking. Supporters of this approach include 81 percent of
  Republicans, 84 percent of Independents, and 89 percent of
  Democrats.
• Three quarters of Americans have heard of fracking, with 51 percent
  saying they are very or somewhat familiar with it. 79 percent of
  Americans are concerned about fracking “as it relates to water
  quality.”

What is to be done?

Pam Solo, president and founder, Civil Society Institute, said:
“This survey should be a wake-up call for federal elected
officials. The polling data we are releasing today should give pause
to decision makers who assume the American public will support
energy policies without regard to consequences or the impact these
choices have on safe drinking water. The voracious appetite that
conventional energy such as gas, oil, coal and nuclear power has on
water availability is increasingly a problem for many parts of the
country. When given a menu of choices and not asked a simple ‘yes or
no’ question, Americans weigh our options and come down in favor of
increased energy efficiency and low environmental impact and
healthier energy futures such as wind and solar power. The distance
between what the public values and where political decision makers
are headed should be seen as an opportunity for real leadership at
the federal level. Energy policy is at the heart of our economic
prosperity, public health, and national security. And Americans
overwhelmingly want a voice that can counter the undue influence of
the energy industries that have a stake in business as usual.”

“The takeaway from this important poll is that access to clean, safe
drinking water is first and foremost on Americans’ minds as we dive
headlong into a new era of energy production in the United States,”
said Heather White, executive director at Environmental Working
Group. “Americans are concerned about water quality, but also water
availability when they look at how much is used in the quest for
domestic sources of energy. Shale gas drilling or ‘fracking’,
nuclear energy and coal production use vast amounts of the natural
resource we the people need to survive. That is why the overwhelming
majority of Americans want leaders in Washington to shift from coal
and nuclear to wind and solar energy. Given the gridlock on Capitol
Hill even on its basic responsibilities like avoiding the ‘fiscal
cliff,’ most Americans understand that it’ll be up to the public to
push the federal government and the country on a truly clean energy
path.”

The same two groups did a poll last summer that found

SURVEY: “PARTISAN DIVIDE” ON ENERGY ISSUES IS A MYTH, STRONG BIPARTISAN SUPPORT SEEN FOR SHIFT TO CLEANER ENERGY:
Washington Out of Step With Public? Little Confidence Seen in National Lawmakers Finding Solutions is Evident in Across-the-Board Political Support for Grassroots Drive to Take Back Issue.

A key finding: More than three out of four Americans (76
percent)—including 58 percent of Republicans, 83 percent of
Independents, and 88 percent of Democrats — think that the
United States should move to a sustainable energy future through “a
reduction in our reliance on nuclear power, natural gas and coal,
and instead, launch a national initiative to boost renewable energy
and energy efficiency.”

Conducted March 22-25, 2012, the new ORC International survey of
1,019 Americans shows that:

• About two out of three Americans (66 percent)—including 58
  percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Independents, and 75 percent
  of Democrats — agree that the term “‘clean energy standard’
  should not be used to describe any energy plan that involves nuclear
  energy, coal-fired power, and natural gas that comes from hydraulic
  fracturing, also known as ‘fracking’.”

The change from coal, gas, and nuclear to solar and wind
will happen if enough of us demand it.
The Georgia legislature meets today.
There’s

a place to start.
And here’s

another way to say you want clean solar and wind energy while protesting
Georgia Power’s stealth rate hikes for nuclear and natural gas.

-jsq