Mandate for Clean Energy

A Zogby poll after the election validates President-elect Obama's choice of energy policy as his top priority:

More than three in four voters - 78% - believe investing in clean energy is important to revitalizing America's economy. Of those, 50% said they strongly agree clean energy investment is vital to the nation's economic future, a new Zogby Interactive post-election poll shows.

Support for clean energy investment is particularly strong among younger voters - 87% of those age 18-24 and 80% of those age 18-29 believe this type of investment is necessary to help improve the U.S. economy. African American voters (94%) and Hispanic voters (84%) also showed overwhelming support for clean energy investment.

While the vast majority of Democrats (96%) and independent voters (77%) view clean energy investment as a key means to boost the U.S. economy, more than half of Republican voters (58%) also said the same.

Looks like a mandate to me.

"While the economy was the top issue in the 2008 election, clean energy clearly emerged as part of voter expectations for getting the economy back on track," said John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International. "Support for action on global warming, already strong in the 2006 election, was even stronger in 008, particularly among young voters that are the future electorate."

This post-election survey also found that most voters want their elected officials to focus on global warming - 61% said they agree their elected officials should make combating global warming a high priority, an increase from 58% of voters who said the same in 2006.

It will be interesting to see the three-way clash between Obama's energy plan, voter preferences as indicated by this poll, and the special interests doubtless already lobbying select members of congress. Coal in particular will be, well, the canary in the coal mine.

This post-election survey also shows independent voters are increasingly likely to want their elected officials to make sure combating global warming is a high priority. More than half of voters (57%) said voting for candidates who support reducing global warming pollution was important to them in this election, up from 50% of voters in 2006.

The New York Times rounds up diverse opinions on how Obama will fare.