NEWS RELEASE
Contact: June Blotnick, CCAC, 704-342-9161
N.C. SURVEY: PUBLIC WOULD PULL PLUG ON DUKE ENERGY’S PROPOSED
COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT IN CLIFFSIDE
Survey of 600 N.C. Adults Shows Strong Preference for Clean Energy,
More Conservation & Energy-Efficiency; About 6 in 10 State Residents
Would Be More Likely to Support Political Candidate Who Opposes
Cliffside Plant.
Charlotte, N.C. (April 22, 2008) The Carolinas Clean Air Coalition is
part of a broad based coalition made up of over 20 public health,
environmental, faith-based, consumer and citizen action groups across
the state opposed to Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal plant located about 50
miles west of Charlotte.
According to a scientific survey of 600
state residents conducted support in North Carolina for plans by Duke
Energy to build a dirty coal-fired power plant at Cliffside is weak.
The survey of North Carolina residents found that about four out of five
North Carolina residents (79 percent) –- including a bipartisan 74
percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of
Independents -- agree that “North Carolina should focus on increased
energy efficiency and conservation steps and more use of sustainable
energy to reduce demand for electricity before it goes ahead with a new
coal-fired power plant.”
These survey results showing four out of
five North Carolinians favor the increased use of energy efficiency and
sustainable energy over a new coal-fired power plant are no surprise to
the Coalition. Since Duke first announced its plans for Cliffside 18
months ago, hundreds of citizens in the Charlotte region and across the
state have come out to public hearings, educational forums, and rallies
time and time again to express their opposition to the first coal plant
to be built in our state in over 30 years.
We’ve heard from children suffering from asthma, doctors concerned about
mercury levels in pregnant women and green building experts describing
how energy demand can be reduced. We’ve heard loud and clear from
citizens who have become increasing aware of the urgency of the climate
crisis and who are appalled that their utility provider would build what
amounts to a global warming machine spewing over 6 million tons of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year for the next 50 years.
We’ve had prominent doctors and medical experts speak to the public and
in the press about the dangers of coal. We’ve even had people call our
office after they’ve signed contracts to purchase homes and property
near the plant, but now want to get out of those contracts. They want to
know where in North Carolina they can find clean air.
From our experience and as these survey results indicate, it’s clear
that there is a huge disconnect between how the public feels about
energy and Duke’s plans to generate it. We hope that legislators,
utility commissioners, candidates for public office and Duke
shareholders all see the writing on the wall that says North Carolinians
want clean sources of energy to power our homes and businesses. It says
we are tired of dirty air and code orange, red and purple ozone action
days during the spring and summer. As coal fuels global warming and
global warming brings hotter seasons, we will continue to suffer with
more and more bad air days.
This poll is another nail in the coffin for this ill-conceived Cliffside
project. It’s gratifying to us to know that the North Carolina public
supports so strongly our agenda for cleaner energy and cleaner air.
Other key North Carolina survey findings include the following:
• Roughly seven out of 10 state residents (69 percent) would pick clean
wind or solar energy if they “could decide where to invest money in new
electric power generation for North Carolina.” Better than one in five
(22 percent) would pick nuclear and just 7 percent favor coal as the
power source.
• About six out of 10 state residents (59 percent) -–including an equal
number of likely voters --would be more likely to vote for “a candidate
for public office who spoke out against Duke Energy's planned coal-fired
plant for North Carolina.”This support for power plant opponent
candidates includes majorities of Republicans (52 percent), Democrats
(65 percent) and Independents (58 percent).
• Nearly three out of four North Carolina residents (73 percent) would
oppose “the building of another coal-fired power plant in North Carolina
if they knew it would result in additional mercury contamination and
carbon dioxide pollution, which scientists believe contribute to global
warming.” Over half (53 percent) of residents would strongly oppose such
construction, which would be favored by only one in four state
residents. Only 38 percent of Republicans, 15 percent of Democrats and
28 percent of Independents would support such construction.
Civil Society Institute Senior Fellow Gail Pressberg said: “Even in its
own backyard in North Carolina, Duke Energy does not have the support of
the public when it embraces a 19th Century solution like coal to deal
with the challenges of a 21st Century world that requires clean energy
solutions that create new jobs and cut global warming pollution. North
Carolina residents know that Jim Rogers is on the wrong track in relying
on a dirty power source at the same time that more far-sighted utilities
and the state governments that regulate them are canceling plans for
coal-fired power plants.”
Alice Loyd, executive director, North Carolina Interfaith Power and
Light in Raleigh, said: “What the poll shows would certainly be true for
the people we’ve met as we make presentations in faith congregations
over the state. They see that emitting the kind of pollution this plant
would create is just wrong. Recently Pope Benedict XVI named
environmental pollution as a sin. Jim Rogers’ coal plant is not what
people want, and building it at this time of climate crisis would fall
into the category of moral failure.”
Jim Warren, executive director, NC WARN (Waste Awareness and Response
Network) in Durham, said: “The pressure to cancel Cliffside will keep
growing as the public learns the intensity of our climate crisis. We
urge CEO Rogers to avoid dragging Duke Energy through a four-year battle
against the people of North Carolina. The public is eager for some real
leadership.”
OTHER SURVEY FINDINGS
Opinion Research Corporation Senior Researcher Graham Hueber said: “It
is clear from the survey that North Carolina residents are looking ahead
to a future of cleaner energy. For example, nearly nine out of 10 North
Carolina residents (86 percent) agree with the following statement: ‘A
national energy strategy based on a 'phasing in' of new technologies and
a phasing out of carbon based energy sources would require specific
actions. America should commit to a five-year moratorium on new
coal-fired plants and, instead, focus on aggressive expansion of wind,
solar and other renewable energy sources. Tax and other incentives
should be provided for all new construction to help reduce energy
consumption. Homeowners should get incentives to make their homes more
energy efficient to help reduce energy demands.’”
Other key Civil Society Institute survey findings for North Carolina
include the following:
• Likely voters favor more conservation/energy efficiency over power
plant construction by a margin of 79 percent to 20 percent.
• More than four out of five North Carolina residents (81 percent) say
they are “concerned about the possible ill health effects -including
asthma, heart problems and mental retardation in children --that could
be experienced by you, your family members and others as the result of
increased pollution from a new coal-fired power plant in North
Carolina.”Fewer than one in five state residents (18 percent) say they
are not concerned by such health issues.
• More than four out of five (84 percent) – including a bipartisan 86
percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of
independents -- agree with the following statement: "A sound energy
policy is central to solving some of the most urgent problems facing our
country. An energy policy that promotes energy efficiency and
sustainable power would encourage innovation, create new green jobs and
make for a stronger economy. It also allows the U.S. to disentangle
itself from unstable and hostile regions of the world while also
reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions."
• Roughly nine out of 10 North Carolina residents (89 percent) “think it
is time for the leaders of our nation to start thinking in terms of the
concept of a ’new industrial revolution,’ one that is characterized by
the orderly phasing out of fossil fuels and the phasing in of clean,
renewable energy sources -many of which are available now, such as wind
and solar for electricity, hybrid and clean diesel technologies for
cars.”
• Over four out of five North Carolina residents (82 percent) agree that
“the effects of global warming require that we take timely and decisive
steps for renewable, safe and clean energy sources. We need transitional
technologies on our path to energy independence. There are tough choices
to be made and tradeoffs. We cannot afford to postpone decisions since
there are no perfect options."
• Two thirds of North Carolina residents have little (10 percent) or no
(56 percent) awareness of “plans by Duke Energy to build a new
coal-fired power plant at Cliffside in North Carolina.”Only 34 percent
say they are aware, with just 9 percent “very aware.”
For full findings from the new survey, go to http://www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
Results are based on an Opinion Research Corporation survey for the
Civil Society Institute consisting of telephone interviews conducted
among a representative sample of 603 adults age 18 and over, living in
private households, in the state of North Carolina. Interviewing was
completed during the period of April 4-7, 2008. All completed interviews
were weighted by two variables: age and gender, to ensure reliable and
accurate representation of the adult population. The margin of error is
plus or minus 4 percentage points for the sample of 603 adults. Smaller
sub-groups will have larger error margins.
ABOUT THE CIVIL SOCIETY INSTITUTE
The nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (http://www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org)
is a Newton, Massachusetts-based think tank that serves as a catalyst
for change by creating problem-solving interactions among people, and
between communities, government and business that can help to improve
society. Since 2003, CSI has conducted more than 15 major national and
state-level surveys on energy and global warming issues. The Civil
Society Institute also is a of the Citizens Lead for Energy Action Now
(CLEAN) campaign at http://www.cleanenergyaction.net. CSI is the
organizer of both 40MPG.org (http://www.40MPG.org) and the Hybrid Owners
of America (http://www.HybridOwnersofAmerica.org).
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or aawolf@hastingsgroup.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of the news event will be
available on the Web at http://www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org as of 6
p.m. EDT on April 22, 2008.
