Chamber’s GEI: US voters favor energy innovation over regulation

April 12, 2019
Most US voters prefer a national energy strategy that recognizes and improves technologies that already have contributed to the country’s emissions reductions in the last 10 years to policies that are centered on expanded government regulation, a survey commissioned by the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute found.

Most US voters prefer a national energy strategy that recognizes and improves technologies that already have contributed to the country’s emissions reductions in the last 10 years to policies that are centered on expanded government regulation, a survey commissioned by the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute (GEI) found.

“When it comes to solutions, we found that Americans favor an innovation over a regulatory approach. That’s one reason why focusing on improving energy technology would be more productive than increasing regulations,” GEI Acting Pres. Christopher Guith told reporters in an Apr. 11 teleconference.

The telephone survey, conducted Mar. 7-12 of 1,000 likely 2020 voters by FTI Consulting, found that 79% of the respondents believed investing more in technology and innovation would be the most effective way to address climate change compared with 55% who favored more government regulation.

“Voters overwhelmingly want feasible, sensible energy policies that work for all Americans,” said Kristy Pultorak, senior digital and insights director at FTI Consulting. “They want to keep energy more affordable for taxpayers. We asked them how much more they would be willing to pay to combat greenhouse gas emissions over the next year. Sixty-four percent said they’d be willing to pay only less than $10/month more.”

GEI released the survey’s results as it launched its “Cleaner, Stronger Energy and Climate Agenda,” which emphasizes supporting technology and innovation over increasing government regulation. The survey found that 73% of the survey’s respondents preferred the first approach compared with 21% who favored the Green New Deal, which environmental organizations and similar groups support.

Guith noted that when the US Chamber started what has become GEI 11 years ago, innovation and technology were immediately identified as effective tools. “When we started this process 6 months ago, Americans did not seem to be aware of how much has invested already to keep their lights on and their cars and trucks running without having a major impact on the environment,” he said.

“We’re going to continue supporting increased federal spending on technologies nearly every scientific group has identified as necessary to combat global climate change. There’s some low-hanging fruit there, and the Chamber wants more policymakers to identify and pursue it,” Guith said.

These priorities have bipartisan support and provide a meaningful path to continue reducing emissions, he said. “We must continue to make progress and develop these technologies because we don’t have them now, and we will need them in the next 40 years,” Guith said.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].