Republicans put anchor on self-sustaining energy policy

“BARACK OBAMA: NEW ENERGY FOR AMERICA

America has always risen to great challenges, and our dependence on oil is one of the greatest we have ever faced. It’s a threat to our national security, our planet and our economy. For decades, Washington has failed to solve this problem because of partisanship, the undue influence of special interests, and politicians who would rather propose gimmicks to get them through an election instead of long‐term solutions that will get America closer to energy independence. Our country cannot afford politics as usual – not at a moment when the energy challenge we face is so great and the consequences of inaction are so dangerous. We must act quickly and we must act boldly to transform our entire economy – from our cars and our fuels to our factories and our buildings. Achieving this goal will not be easy. Energy independence will require far more than the same Washington gimmicks and continued dependence on costly and finite resources. It will require a sustained and shared effort by our government, our businesses, and the American people. But America has overcome great challenges before. With clarity of direction and leadership, there is no question that we possess the insight, resources, courage and the determination to build a new economy that is powered by clean and secure energy. Barack Obama has a comprehensive energy plan that provides immediate relief to struggling families. It also summons the nation to face one of the great challenges of our time: confronting our dependence on foreign oil, addressing the moral, economic and environmental challenge of global climate change, and building a clean energy future that benefits all Americans.Obama’s comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

• Provide short‐term relief to American families facing pain at the pump

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten yearsto catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.

• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuelacombined

• Put 1 million Plug‐In Hybrid cars – cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon – on the road by2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America

• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by2025

• Implement an economy‐wide cap‐and‐trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80percent by 2050"

“Support for federal backing of renewables slips, driven by GOP skepticism

By Juliet Eilperin and Jon Cohen, Published: November 10

Support for putting federal funds into alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and hydrogen has slipped to its lowest point in polls since 2006, driven by growing Republican opposition to such initiatives, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll.

The new findings, which follow the bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra and the ongoing congressional probe of the Obama administration’s loan-guarantee program for renewable-energy ventures, show that attitudes toward renewable energy have diverged between the two parties.

Support for alternative energy is slipping.

Renewable energy still remains more popular than traditional fossil fuels, with 68 percent of respondents in favor of federal backing for it. But this is a sharp decline from the roughly eight in 10 who favored increasing federal spending on renewable energy from 2006 to through early 2010.

Among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, support for renewable energy funding has slumped to 53 percent, 30 percentage points lower than Democratic backing. Democratic support remains at more than 80 percent.

From 2006 to 2009, more than eight in 10 Republicans and Democrats alike favored the idea of supporting alternative energy. But since then, there has been a stark partisan divide, with support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents falling significantly.

Republicans are also more broadly opposed to government investment in developing new energy technologies than they were at the beginning of the Obama administration.

Edward Maibach, who directs the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, said he was “not at all surprised to see increasing polarization in support for clean energy between liberals and conservatives. In the current hyper-partisan environment, every news story of note is nearly instantly reframed to make a partisan point.”

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, argued that the shift in support makes sense given the media coverage many Republicans receive from outlets such as Fox News.

“It is not surprising that support for federal funding for clean energy drops among Republicans when their major source of information is a ‘news’ network that is pushing an anti-environment, anti-science, anti-government agenda 24/7,” Karpinski wrote in an e-mail.

However, Jack N. Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said the findings suggested Americans are more open to the oil and gas industry’s message that fossil fuels are more reliable job creators.

“When the administration came to town, they set expectations very high,” Gerard said. “The public is now seeing a commotion around Solyndra and are asking, ‘This is the best we can do? Where are the jobs?’ ”

Support for other forms of energy extraction remained less popular than renewables, but also unchanged over the year. Some 58 percent back federal support for additional offshoreoil and gas drilling; an identical percentage favors more mining and drilling on federal land.

Respondents were less enthusiastic about backing nuclear energy, at 39 percent, or providing subsidies for ethanol production, at 38 percent.

For nuclear energy, there has been no resurgence in support since Pew reported declining support after the nuclear crisis in Japan this spring.

Overall, a somewhat slimmer majority sees government investment as necessary to spur energy technologies. Fifty-two percent of respondents view government action as essential; 58 percent said so in April 2009. About four in 10, 39 percent, say businesses will produce advances without federal outlays.

The telephone poll was conducted Nov. 3 to 6 among a random national sample of 1,005 adults. Results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.”