Sheril Kirshenbaum, of Scientific American, opines that since 1994, Gallup has been tracking U.S. attitudes of the general public on nuclear energy. Last week, they released new survey results suggesting the majority of Americans oppose nuclear energy. But do they?
On the surface, it is clear that something has shifted, but polling is subject to many influences and The UT Energy Poll results from January tell a bit of a different story favoring nuclear energy. Why the disparity? Anyone paying attention to polls through this primary political season knows that surveys are far from perfect. Results are subject to a lot of sources of error and the way the poll is conducted impacts the results.
The Gallup poll was based on telephone interviews among a random sample of 1,019 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The UT Energy Poll was conducted online among 2,043 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older, weighted to reflect U.S. Census demographic data. The overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
I2M WP EDS have commented here before that the selection of energy technology is not for the general public to decide. Why? Because they have no technical basis for making such selections. The government also has no business making such decisions. It has the responsibility to assist companies via research in some areas to further development, but it remains for Capitalism to determine what works in the market and what does not, and which is only regulated when an energy source impacts the environment, such as coal, burning oil and natural gas, etc. Further, it is a matter for the scientists and engineers to decide. So, who cares about the poles? They are flawed in any event and at various levels.
Resource Portal for I2M Clients, Associates, and Geoscientists
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-