Poll: Support for Nuclear Power is High

A new poll out from Zogby today shows a strong majority supporting new nuclear power plants.

Republicans (85%) and political independents (70%) were more likely than Democrats (49%) to support the construction of new nuclear power plants. A majority of respondents of all ages – with the exception of those age 18 to 24 (47%) – expressed support for building new nuclear power plants, with the greatest overall support among those age 65 and older (78%). Men (82%) are more likely than women (52%) to favor building new nuclear power plants in the U.S.

Amazingly, a hair under half of Democrats support it; I don't know if support will ever get stronger (without energy prices going higher).

Some people only know nuclear power through liberal fear-machine fiction movies like China Syndrome, and maybe some sketchy information about Three Mile Island or Russia's Chernobyl disaster.

I lived in Europe shortly after Chernobyl, and while it was definitely a bad thing, it should be understood that the chain of events that led to the explosion was an unlikely "comedy of errors" that defy odds of repetition; in other words, the Russians did almost everything wrong, every step of the way.

While some mistakes were made during the Three Mile Island incident in Pennsylvania, it is an example that (unlike the sloppiness of the Soviets) the technology is safe, even when the unexpected happens.

When I lived in England back in the late 1980s, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a nuclear reactor. Take a drive of any significant distance anywhere in a built-up area and you were going to see at least one nuclear reactor. England is much more densely populated that the United States, and the British people are doing quite well living with nuclear power.

It isn't just a matter of rising fuel costs. Remember just a few years ago when California was having brownouts and rolling blackouts? Other parts of the country's power grid is overtaxed, too.

Unfortunately, due to fear mongering from environmental extremists, pandering by liberals in congress, and a lack of action by Republicans when they were in charge, the entire energy policy of the United States is still somewhere around the late 1970s or early 1980s. We have a lot more people living here now, with a lot more energy demands.

It's time we quit playing around and craft an energy policy fitting for the 21st Century, and for the world's lone superpower. These poll results indicate the time is NOW.