Renewable energy advocates have long argued that, given a choice, Americans prefer renewables to conventional alternatives such as nuclear and fossil fuels. The following REPP Issue Brief, Energy and the Environment: The Public View, by Dr. Barbara Farhar of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), reviews twenty-three years of polling data justifying this widely-shared belief. Dr. Farhar's analysis reveals broad favor for renewable energy across society, and demonstrates that support has remained high even as energy prices have dropped and memories of the 1970s energy crisis fade.

REPP finds Dr. Farhar's work encouraging and timely for several reasons. First, it brings to an important election year a message of lasting concern over environmental issues. This non-partisan concern is often backed by a willingness to vote pro-renewables and pro-environment. Dr. Farhar argues that Americans are beginning to recognize the link between energy use and environmental degradation. Yet, many lawmakers fail to appreciate that most voters perceive attacks on renewable energy as anti-environment. Dr. Farhar's paper should alert policymakers to links among environment, energy and voter preference.

Second, Dr. Farhar's analysis sounds a wake-up call to the renewable energy community. Renewable energy advocates have devoted considerable energy to constructing political coalitions and crafting policies. These activities will remain important. However, as the American energy sector progressively deregulates, the renewable energy community will need to devote increasing effort to building markets.

The restructuring of the electric system will allow the renewable energy industry to tap directly the public support Dr. Farhar documents. But, to secure market share, renewable energy entrepreneurs must quickly develop the sophisticated and aggressive marketing tools common to competitive markets. This will require more detailed knowledge about how consumers think about energy and about less palatable topics, such as the environmental impact of renewables themselves. Dr. Farhar's paper constitutes an important early step in this market maturation process.

Finally, Dr. Farhar's review provides insight into the sources, strengths and limitations of polling data, and the institution of polling itself. In coming years, numerous interests armed with apparently convincing data will claim to represent public sentiment concerning energy. Awareness of the context and methods of data collection will aid the renewable energy community in understanding and, when necessary, rebuffing such claims.

REPP is pleased to bring this work to the attention of the policy and renewable energy communities. We thank Dr. Farhar for her extensive work in preparing this paper and Susan Conbere, REPP's Managing Editor, for her editorial comments.

Adam Serchuk & Alan Miller October 18, 1996

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