乾淨能源取代化石燃料 全美過半民眾表支持

A new national survey finds support for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to limit climate-warming carbon emissions from power plants.

Commissioned by the Sierra Club, the survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research polled 1,000 registered voters across the country from January 11-20.

The survey found strong support among respondents for moving away from coal and other fossil fuels and a preference for investing in clean energy.

“Voters overwhelmingly want to see the country move away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, and they believe the government should be taking more action to combat climate disruption,” said Andrew Baumann, vice president of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. “As a result, they show very strong support for new EPA limits on carbon pollution from power plants.”

In September 2013 the EPA proposed the country’s first Clean Air Act standards to cut carbon pollution from new power plants to combat climate change and improve public health.

Power plants are the largest concentrated source of emissions in the United States, accounting for roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions. While the United States has limits in place for arsenic, mercury and lead pollution that power plants can emit, currently there are no national limits on the amount of carbon pollution new or existing power plants can emit.

When presented with President Barack Obama’s climate plan and the proposed Environmental Protection Agency limits on carbon pollution from power plants, seven-in-ten respondents said they favor the EPA putting limits on the amount of carbon pollution that power plants can release.

The pollsters found that by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, voters think the country should be investing more in clean energy sources and energy efficiency rather than in fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas (61 percent for clean energy vs. 33 percent traditional sources).

A majority of voters (51 percent) “strongly” prefers investing in clean energy.

Support is even higher among African-American voters (77 percent) and Latino voters (71 percent).

A strong majority of voters (58 percent) favor the U.S. setting national goals to move away from coal and other fossil fuels and replace them with clean, renewable sources by the year 2030 – this includes 57 percent who favor moving “entirely away from coal,” and 59 percent who favor moving entirely away from “fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.”

Two-in-three U.S. voters say the issue of climate disruption is a serious problem.

The majority of voters (56 percent) believe that the government already limits the amount of carbon pollution that power plants can release, which the government currently does not.

“Americans want to cut their ties to dirty fuels and instead power their country with 100 percent clean energy,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. “These poll results should send a clear message to President Obama and the EPA that they must look beyond an ‘all of the above’ energy policy and completely replace dirty fuels with clean energy.”