Americans are ready for action on clean energy jobs, energy independence and reducing carbon pollution, according to two Pew Environment Group-commissioned polls, one by the Mellman Group and another by Public Opinion Strategies.

The national survey of Americans contacted in late March by the Mellman Group, found that:

• 77% of voters favor action to reduce global warming emissions

• 50% of voters say they would view their Member of Congress more favorably if they support a comprehensive plan to create clean energy jobs and fight global warming, only 22% say they would view their Member of Congress less favorably.

• 44% of voters prefer proceeds from a polluters fund be divided equally between funding research and development and being returned to taxpayers in a tax cut or energy tax credit, 26% want to fund R & D only, 19% want to fund tax cut/energy tax credit only. (The fund would be created under the bill as industrial polluters are compelled to pay for their emissions.)

“Public support for action on global warming is overwhelming. Voters clearly understand that reducing the carbon pollution that causes global warming will improve our economy by creating clean energy jobs and enhance our security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” concluded Mark Mellman, President of The Mellman Group, a Democratic polling firm, in a news release.

Research and surveying in early April by Public Opinion Strategies, a leading Republican polling group, also found support for global warming legislation among all Americans.

• 74% of Republicans, 70% Independents and 74% Democrats believe jobs that reduce our dependence on foreign oil are “very important” for helping the economy over the next five to ten years.

• 63% of Republicans, 70% of Independents and 73% of Democrats believe jobs that are improving energy efficiency are “very important” to helping the economy over the next five to ten years.

• 59% of voters believe efforts to tackle global warming will create new American jobs.

The polls were designed to tap public opinion across the political spectrum as Congress prepares to debate and vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act next week. The Act would set a variety of goals and incentives for the development of renewable energy and conservation measures.

Mellman based its findings on phone interviews with likely voters in late March; Public Strategies polled 800 registered voters by phone and contacted 1,200 adults online in early April. The Pew Environment Group is a conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-government organization oriented to improving public policy.

For those yearning to hear more about the Democrats’ energy plans, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s vigorous speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver opened a more detailed dialogue on the subject.

Schweitzer, a first-term Democratic governor who chose a Republican lieutenant governor, called for “a new energy system that is clean, green and American-made.” He lamented U.S. dependence on foreign oil and what he labeled the Bush Administration’s single-minded focus on drilling to extract more oil, not just abroad but also domestically.

“That single-answer proposition is a dry well, and here’s why,” Schweitzer said. “America consumes 25 percent of the world’s oil, but has less than 3 percent of the reserves. You don’t need a $2 calculator to figure that one out. There just isn’t enough oil in America, on land or offshore, to meet America’s full energy needs.”

In Montana, said the rancher turned politician said, leaders are pursuing oil, but also wind power and coal operations with carbon sequestration; just as the nation will have to pursue many new avenues on the path to energy independence, and to counter global warming. And that includes conservation measures.

“Barack Obama understands the most important barrel of oil is the one you don’t use. Barack Obama’s energy strategy taps all sources and all possibilities. It will give you a tax credit if you buy a fuel-efficient car or truck, increase fuel-efficiency standards and put a million plug-in hybrids on the road,” said Schweitzer.

Read the full text of the speech on the DNC Convention website. To learn more about Montana’s energy policies, see the governor’s Office of Economic Development website.

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