03/14/06 Renewable energy and public opinion

Farm and Ranch March 14, 2006 The 25 x '25 Work Group has a vision of having agricultural working lands providing 25 percent of U.S. energy needs by the year 2025 through the use of renewable wind, solar and biofuels. Hence, 25 by '25. What does the American public think if that? McInturff: "Ninety percent said that was achievable, 98% said it was an important goal. And the intensity measures, meaning the people say it is very achievable and very important, are quite high." That's Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies which conducted a survey of one-thousand registered voters earlier this year. The results were released last week at the 25 x '25 Agriculture and Forestry Renewable Energy Summit. McInturff says the majority of those polled said they wouldn't pay more to get renewable energy but 41 percent, which he described as a robust number, said they would be willing to pay up to 25 dollars more a month to do so. Also; McInturff: "The other thing people tell us in this poll. Again, roughly nine out of ten say they are very comfortable either seeing the government provide incentives to private companies to move this goal or very comfortable, another roughly nine out of ten people saying that having the government require that large major companies move to use this type energy is also acceptable." The survey showed voters see many convincing arguments for a shift to renewable energy, among them the need to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, protection of the environment, and opportunities to create jobs, especially in rural communities. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.