AKRON — “Will Statehouse Republicans listen to their pollster? They rely on the number-crunching expertise and guidance of Public Opinion Strategies for their campaigns. The firm has released a survey last week that should help Republican lawmakers steer their way to maintaining the state’s current standards for increasing energy efficiency and generating renewable energy.
…the poll found the respondents willing to pay more for electricity each month to encourage the use of renewable energy. That view held across the income spectrum. A majority, 56 percent, expressed a willingness to pay $5 or more each month.
These results not only are hard for the Republican majorities to question. They complement a recent study that assessed the value of renewable energy standards through 2050. The analysis projects the benefits, in the form of improved air quality, reduced carbon emissions and an expanding clean energy economy, far outpacing the costs — especially if states adopt even stronger standards.
Which points to something else in the survey, participants saying they would like to see half of the state’s electricity come from renewable energy. By that point, the likes of solar and wind won’t need much help. For now, they could use a boost. Actually, in this era of climate change, such use cannot happen fast enough, something Ohio conservatives fully grasp.”
— editorial board, Akron Beacon Journal
link to full editorial
