Americans concerned that the California energy crisis will hit home COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- More and more Americans are feeling the pain of increased energy costs, and many are worried that the California energy crisis will have a direct effect on them. Those are the findings of a national poll released by Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC), a national non-profit, non-partisan organization that promotes an ongoing dialogue with community leaders in support of a balanced national energy policy. According to the survey (conducted April 4 - 11, 2001), 87 percent of those responding said that they have experienced an increase in household energy expenditures over the past year. The majority (59%) said that they had seen personal household energy expenditures increase a "great deal." While the news media has been focused on the near collapse of electricity markets in California, a surprisingly high number of respondents said that they feel the California crisis will get worse before it improves and will affect them personally. Seventy-one percent said that they expect the situation in California to worsen in the coming months. Perhaps more troubling, 88 percent of the respondents say that the crisis in California will negatively affect the U.S. economy and 72 percent feel that the situation will have a negative impact on them personally. "It is a shame that it has taken a situation as bad as the one in California to force us to recognize that America is facing a looming energy crisis," said Stephen L. Miller, president of ABEC. "We're using more energy every day, and the time has come to develop balanced energy policies that ensure reliable and affordable supplies of energy while protecting the environment." Through the ABEC campaign, more than 12,000 recognized community leaders are discussing strategies for balancing America's growing demand for electricity in the 21st century with the need to protect the environment. The group supports a national policy that allows all domestic energy sources -- including coal, America's most abundant energy resource -- to play a role in meeting our growing demand for power. The group's mission has strong support among the public. According to the survey, nearly three-fourths of the public supports a comprehensive energy policy that includes all fuels -- including electricity from coal. "Here in Ohio, nearly 90 percent of the electricity we consume comes from coal. Any effort to remove low-cost coal from our energy mix would mean higher energy bills for Ohio consumers and businesses," said ABEC charter member Nancy Dix, former state senator and director of the Ohio Department of Commerce. "As we formulate a new national energy policy, we must balance the laudable goal of a cleaner environment with a recognition of the potential economic impact on our state of eliminating coal-based electricity." "The cost of a failed energy policy is too high," said Miller, "especially for senior citizens and others who live on low and fixed-incomes and who can least afford to pay more for energy. That is why we are encouraged that policy makers in Washington and in state houses across the country are focusing on energy issues and we pledge our support to participate in a constructive dialogue that aids in meeting this challenge." The survey was conducted for ABEC by Market Strategies of Alexandria, Virginia, and included a national sample of 1,000 adults nationwide. The survey has a margin-of-error of +/- 3.1 percent.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 01, 2001