(NewsUSA) – Summer days bring high temperatures and expensive electricity bills, and often the electricity grid is pushed to the point of rolling blackouts. Winter’s cooler temperatures can put stress on the system as well.
It’s apparent that the demand for more electricity is growing. Part of the solution for meeting that demand is nuclear energy.
A new public opinion poll conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates on behalf of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition shows strong national support for nuclear energy. However, the survey reveals that many Americans don’t know enough about the country’s future energy needs or the benefits of nuclear energy.
“There is a need for education to inform people that nuclear energy enhances security and, as the only major electricity source that does not emit greenhouse gases, protects the environment,” said Patrick Moore, CASEnergy Coalition co-chair and co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace.
Americans see a need for electricity production solutions that focus on affordability, energy independence and environmental stewardship, the survey found. According to the poll, 76 percent of Americans do not believe enough is being done to increase affordable electricity supplies for the future. In addition, 69 percent do not believe enough is being done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution associated with electricity production.
Nuclear energy’s attributes – protecting the environment and enhancing America’s energy security – address people’s concerns about electricity production in the future. Support for nuclear energy grew 40 percent after people learned that nuclear plants emit zero greenhouse gases or controlled air pollutants.
“I am convinced that as people learn more about nuclear energy, they will come to share my certainty that increasing America’s supply of nuclear energy makes sense from an environmental and an economic standpoint,” said Christine Todd Whitman, CASEnergy Coalition co-chair and former Environmental Protection Agency administrator.