Renewable Energy Was Critical In Swing-State Voters' Choice For President, Poll Finds

This is an interesting look at the recent election.  We had been encouraging everyone to consider each candidate's energy and environmental policies in evaluating a vote/no-vote.  We felt, and continue to feel, that these two issues are paramount and deserve much scrutiny in any election...local or national.

You will see in this article that there was, in fact, a direct correlation to states that invest and support renewables helping to push the national election Obama's way.  We think these issues will continue to carry great weight, and we think they should be an important part of any politician's platform.

New polls released by the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) and the Advanced Energy Economy Ohio Institute show that voters in Colorado, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia - all states that were critical in deciding the outcome of the presidential election - support renewable energy.

Notably, these states - especially Colorado and Iowa - are home to an established wind energy supply chain.

The poll was conducted the day after the election, following months of anti-renewables campaign rhetoric, ACORE notes. The polls confirm that energy was an important factor in many voters' decision for president - on par with foreign policy and more so than abortion. A majority of voters in these four swing states indicated that energy impacted their vote: 66% in Colorado, 60% in Virginia, 58% in Iowa and 57% in Ohio.

These same voters want to see cleaner energy encouraged in their state: They ranked solar, wind and natural gas higher than all other energy sources. And, going forward, these swing-state voters are significantly more supportive of candidates who advocate shifting to cleaner energy sources (Iowa: 80%, Colorado: 75%, Virginia: 72%, Ohio: 70%).

Majorities in all four states support continued government investment in clean energy (Iowa: 77%, Virginia: 76%, Ohio: 75%, Colorado: 72%) and requirements for utilities to increase the use of renewable energy (Iowa: 76%, Colorado: 70%, Virginia: 69%, Ohio: 67%).