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1/5/2009

Survey: Many Midwest Electric members skeptical of global warming

The majority of Midwest Electric members in west central Ohio are increasingly skeptical of the global warming movement and are more concerned about the economic cost of an anti-carbon Congress, according to a recent survey of the cooperative members.

According to the survey, 63 percent of Midwest Electric members say global warming is either a natural phenomenon or is not a major problem. Just 37 percent say it's a serious problem caused by mankind.

Sixty-two percent say they are not willing to pay higher electric bills in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Another 51 percent say government should not mandate utilities to obtain specific percentages of energy from renewable sources, while 32 percent say government should have renewable power mandates.

Midwest Electric annually conducts a customer satisfaction phone survey and added the global warming questions since the U.S. Congress likely will begin debating various energy proposals in the coming months. The global warming debate has been a part of initial legislative discussions.

"Since energy reliability and affordability remain a priority for Ohio homeowners and business owners, we wanted to ask our members what they think of the global warming issue," said Manager/CEO Rick Gerdeman. "We're also sharing these results with our legislators as part of our on-going efforts to craft a sensible U.S. energy policy that keeps reliability and affordability among our top priorities."

The phone survey was conducted by Strategic Marketing & Research, Indianapolis, and has a 4.2 percent margin of error.

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