Poll: Half of New Yorkers support building a new nuclear plant
And just 26% oppose the project, a new Siena Poll shows.
In June, New York Governor Kathy Hochul directed the United States’ second-largest government-controlled utility, the New York Power Authority, to prop up construction of the state’s first new nuclear power plant since the 1980s.
Nearly half of New Yorkers support the plan, according to a Siena Research Institute poll taken last week.
The online survey of 813 registered voters, taken between August 4-7, asked respondents whether they supported “a proposal to develop a zero-emission nuclear energy power plant in New York.”
In total, 49% backed the project, with just 26% opposed. Another 14% found themselves in the middle and 12% didn’t know enough to answer. Of the supporters, Republicans outnumbered Democrats 55% to 49%. The regional divide was similarly slim, with upstate New Yorkers expressing the strongest support at 54% and New York City at 46% and its suburbs at 45%.
Income and identity proved bigger divides. Among the starkest was the gender gap, with support among men eclipsing women by a margin of 66% to 34%. White New Yorkers were the most supportive, at 52%, to Latinos’ 49%. African Americans were the only racial category with more opposition than support, by a margin of 40% to 36%. Among the state’s three largest religious groups, Jews were the least supportive, at 36% with 29% opposed. Protestants were the most supportive at 50%, with 23% opposed and Catholics close behind at 46% with 28% opposed. Earners making $100,000 per year and more backed the project at 63%, with support among those earning less than $50,000 at 39%.
The project faces big questions and significant hurdles, including getting funding in place, selecting a design, and picking a location, as I covered last month for New York Focus.
PROGRAMMING NOTES: Since my last update, I published a new feature in The Atlantic probing at the question of whether we face the risk of “peak mineral,” in much the same way we once feared “peak oil.”
Over at Latitude Media, I had an analysis on whether we’re in the “golden age of utilities.”
This edition’s soundtrack is “Powder Day” by Pixie and the Partygrass Boys, a bluegrass band from Salt Lake City, Utah, whose singers I saw play in the hotel bar of the Grand American in the city’s downtown while I wrote this newsletter last night.
Signing off from Salt Lake City, where I’m on assignment for a story I’m excited to share with you in the coming days.