There’s more than 60 members of the House Finance Committee.
Why so many? Because Wall Street lobbyists make their votes pay !
It’s time to erect a wall. A wall we really need.
Why? Because our Representatives aren’t !
- Few Americans want Washington to adopt a laissez faire approach to energy issues. Only about one in four Americans (27 percent) – including 47 percent of Republicans, 27 percent of Independents, 11 percent of Democrats and a surprisingly small 57 percent of Tea Party supporters — say “Congress and the President should stay out of the energy markets and let private enterprise have a free hand in picking energy sources and setting prices.”
- Excessive corporate influence may explain the gap between where some in Washington are on energy policy … and where mainstream America is. More than seven in 10 Americans (72 percent) – including 62 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of Independents, 83 percent of Democrats, and over half of Tea Party supporters (54 percent) — think that “America’s oil, coal and natural gas companies have a disproportionate influence on Congress and the White House when it comes to making national energy policy.”
- Americans do not see more clean energy as a roadblock to economic recovery. More than two thirds of Americans (69 percent) – including 59 percent of Republicans, 73 percent of Independents, 78 percent of Democrats and a plurality of Tea Party supporters (48 percent) – think it would be a “bad idea” for the U.S. ” to ‘put on hold’ progress towards cleaner energy sources during the current economic difficulty.”
- Most Americans want continued movement away from fossil fuels. About three in four Americans (76 percent) – including 62 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Independents, 90 percent of Democrats and half of Tea Party supporters – agree strongly or somewhat with the following statement: “Smarter energy choices are the key to creating a future that is healthy and safe because fossil fuels create toxic wastes that are a threat to our health and safety.”
- Most Americans would favor a moratorium on coal-fired power plants. Nearly two thirds of Americans (65 percent) – including 55 percent of Republicans, 68 percent of Independents, 72 percent of Democrats, and about half (49 percent) of Tea Party backers — would support a phase-out of coal fired power plants in the United States” if “increased energy efficiency and off the shelf renewable technologies such as wind and solar could meet our energy demands.”
- Concerns about water are present in America on a strongly bipartisan basis. More than three in four Americans (78 percent) – including 68 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of Independents, 85 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Tea Party backers — agree with the following statement: “Water shortages and clean drinking water are real concerns. America should put the emphasis on first developing new energy sources that require the least water and cause minimal water pollution.”
- Few Americans dismiss a connection between extreme weather events and climate change. Fewer than one in five Americans (17 percent) think that “climate change is not a factor” in “at least 10 weather related disasters caused by so called extreme weather – (that) have occurred so far in 2011 involving $1 billion or more each in damages – now totaling about $45 billion.” Fewer than half (45 percent) of Tea Party members fall into the climate change denial camp on this question.
Other findings include the following:
- Nearly three in five (58 percent) of Americans are now aware of “the natural gas drilling process sometimes referred to as ‘fracking.'” About four in five Americans (79 percent) – including 66 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of Independents, 91 percent of Democrats, and 55 percent of Tea Party supporters — say they are very or somewhat concerned “about this issue (fracking) as it relates to water quality.”
- Roughly three out of four Americans (74 percent) – including 68 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Independents, 81 percent of Democrats, and 58 percent of Tea Party backers – agree with the following statement: “The cost of electricity paid by consumers is only part of the price of energy. We have to look at the whole picture — including water quality, environmental damages and human health problems — when we talk about what a particular source of energy costs America.”
Full survey findings are available on online at http://www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org.