Energy and the Environment: The Public View
Barbara C. Farhar, Ph.D.
In surveys over the past eighteen years, majorities of the public have chosen renewable energy and energy
efficiency over other energy alternatives - a finding important to local, state and federal legislators; utility
companies and regulators; environmental organizations; and the renewables and efficiency industries. In her
synthesis of data from more than 700 polls, the author found evidence that the public wants policymakers to
support a national agenda of sustainable development, and that it wants energy efficiency and renewable
energies to comprise increasingly large portions of the nation's energy mix. The poll data point to opportunities
for industry to develop products and services, and for government to create programs and policies, that appeal to
the public.