Last week Pew released a small survey on public attitudes toward energy policy. Some results:

  • The two highest numbers are in support of raising fuel efficiency standards (90%) and "increasing federal funding for research on wind, solar and hydrogen technology" (81%). Supporting public transit is in third, with 72%.
  • Republicans and Democrats differ on nuclear power and oil exploration (including in the Arctic Refuge).
  • Support for more ethanol research is still high, but slipping from its peak last year.
  • In terms of relative priority, since 2001 "protecting the environment" has sunk about 10 percentage points and "developing new energy" has risen the same amount.
  • Americans continue to favor "more energy conservation and regulation on energy use and prices" over "expanding exploration, mining and drilling, and the construction of new power plants" by 55% to 35%.

It continues to mystify me that Dems haven’t been able to make more hay out of Republicans blocking new funding for renewables. Doesn’t anybody know how to play this game?