An FDU Poll released this morning on energy costs and concerns asked respondents about six ways it could be fixed. Respondents could say yes to any or all of them. Their responses, however, appeared to be more about politics than policies.
When asked if the state should build more natural gas facilities (an idea pitched by Greg Lalevee and IUOE 825 and others), 67 percent of respondents said, ‘Yes.’
Energy event today, tomorrow
The N.J. Business & Industry Association is sponsoring a two-day Energy & Environmental Policy Forum today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday) at the DoubleTree by Hilton Somerset Hotel and Conference Center in Franklin.
For more information, click here.
That strong majority, however, falls among party lines: Support is at 90 percent among Republicans, but only 48 percent among Democrats.
When asked if the state should support the construction of more renewable energy plants, including offshore wind (an idea pitched by Rebecca Lubot of the N.J. Sustainable Business Network and others), 54 percent of respondents said, ‘Yes.’
That majority falls even more among party lines: Support is at 88 percent among Democrats but only 14 percent among Republicans.
Is it any wonder this has become such a mess?
Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the executive director of the FDU Poll, can only shake his head.
“Whatever the merits of natural gas or renewables, they’ve become subsumed by partisanship,” he said. “As much as people want to bring down their energy bills, they’re still putting politics first.”
Increasing the use of nuclear energy has similar support.
New Jersey already gets about half of its electricity from nuclear power — and fifty-eight percent of voters support building more nuclear plants. This total also is driven by partisanship: Republicans (77 percent) support the idea far more than Democrats (41 percent).
(It should be noted: Younger voters of both parties favor increasing nuclear options more than older voters of each party, the poll found).
The good news in all of this, according to Cassino: Voters are interested in energy and want action.
“Voters and politicians right now are flailing around for some way to fix energy prices,” he said. “Just about every option has majority support, and the big message from voters is that they want Trenton to do something.”
The challenging news: Any action may be difficult to take — and certainly won’t have statewide support.
That’s a lot for either candidate to overcome, Cassino said.
“The fact that renewables, and especially offshore wind, has become a hot button issue in the election means that views are hopelessly tied up with politics,” he said. “Building out any kind of energy production requires long term investment, and that just isn’t possible when we have this degree of partisan disagreement.”
Other BINJE stories on energy that may interest you:
- PSEG’s LaRossa: Current market rules are not capable of delivering power N.J. needs
- Why ‘freezing’ energy bills won’t lower them in the long term — or solve the cost issue
- Placing blame for increased energy costs is easy, owning up to their origin is not
- Op-Ed: State needs to take control of its energy future
- BYOE: Is it time for big companies to bring their own energy
