Public support has increased for ethanol and biodiesel

The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association has released survey results showing strong support for alternative fuels. I’m sometimes skeptical about how survey questions are presented and how the results are interpreted, but in this case, the question wording has been released. Question: Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose a requirement that all gasoline include 5 per cent ethanol by 2010 and diesel includes 2 per cent biodiesel by 2011? “Strongly support” accounted for 42 per cent of the responses. “Somewhat support” was 32 per cent. “Somewhat oppose” and “strongly oppose” totaled 20 per cent, while 6 per cent responded that they didn’t know. Overall, 74 per cent of the surveyed people supported the Renewable Fuel Standard. According to the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, this is an eight per cent increase in support since the last survey in April 2008. The “strongly support” category has gone up by 16 percentage points over that time. There has been a lot of negative media on ethanol and biodiesel in recent years, but public support appears to be stronger than ever. I’m Kevin Hursh.