How much are you willing to pay for renewable energy?

A new Harris poll reveals some clues about American’s attitudes regarding how much extra they are willing to pay for renewable energy. The poll surveyed more then 6,000 adults in the United States, Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. While 40% of Americans were unwilling to pay more for renewable energy, 41% were willing to pay anywhere from 5 to 15% more. Citing a European Commission report that found that it would cost a homeowner an additional $220 per month in energy to cut greenhouse emissions, the poll asked how likely people would be willing to pay this increased cost each month. Surprisingly, almost 30% of Americans thought it at least somewhat likely they would be willing to pay the additional $2,640 per year. Fifty-three percent of Americans favored a higher tax on cars that emit more carbon, while 78% preferred to reduce taxes on lower emission cars. A majority of Americans favored building new nuclear power plants, but most did not favor subsidizing them with taxpayer dollars, although they did favor a government subsidy for producing biofuels. The country may have mixed feelings about higher energy prices, tax breaks, and subsidies, but an overwhelming 92% of Americans favored building more wind farms. The poll can be found at http://www.harrisinteractive.com.

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