Poll N.J. residents support alternative energy development

While Gov. Chris Christie‘s budget proposal would divert $210 million from the state’s clean energy fund and shift revenue out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that he’s withdrawn the state from, residents show strong support for more alternative energy development, according to a Stockton College poll.

While Gov. Chris Christie‘s budget proposal would divert $210 million from the state’s clean energy fund and shift revenue out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that he’s withdrawn the state from, residents show strong support for more alternative energy development, according to a Stockton College poll.

The poll was taken at the Galloway college’s Feb. 22 energy symposium.

At the event, federal Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and experts in wind energy, hydraulic fracturing and nuclear energy told 300 attendees about the issues related to the renewable energy industry in New Jersey and its role in driving job creation and economic growth in the state’s manufacturing, worker education and energy innovation sectors.

“An economy built around the new challenge of going farther on a smaller tank of gas is an example of how a good investment in the economy can be a pillar of future growth,” Jackson said in prepared remarks.

Following presentations and panel discussions from industry leaders with differing viewpoints, a majority of the attendees indicated that they favored alternative energies over fossil fuels, placed a high value on environmental protection, and preferred wind and solar power over natural gas and nuclear power, according to results from an instant poll exercise. Given the choices of keeping energy prices low, reducing dependence on foreign oil, creating jobs in the energy sector, and protecting the environment, nearly half of respondents designated that protecting the environment was most important, while only 7 percent said it was vital to keep energy prices low.