With the war in Iran moving into month three and gas prices at a high-water mark, it is not shocking that Americans are concerned about energy prices. As discussed in previous posts, Americans are not expecting the war to end anytime soon, and even if everything went back to the way it was prior to the start of the bombing, it would take months for the supply chain to stabilize and prices to come down.

With that being said, we thought it would be interesting to see how Americans view the best approach to energy production. Specifically, we asked them to indicate what percentage of our energy production should come from renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, fossil fuels, or other sources. On average, Americans would like to see roughly half of our energy come from renewable sources (47%), while the average American would like to see about a quarter come from nuclear and a quarter from fossil fuels (23% each).

A majority or plurality of every major demographic group put renewables at the top; some of the differences are predictable (partisanship), while others were a little more of a surprise (race and gender). Regardless of the differences, there is a clear pattern when it comes to which is the source most Americans would like to see making up the largest proportion of our energy production.

Key Takeaway:

• 🚹🚺Men and women can agree and disagree: On the agreement side of the ledger, both men and women would like to see renewables make up the largest proportion of production. Women, on average, would like to see a slightly higher share (53%) than men (42%). They also agree that a little less than a quarter (23%) should come from fossil fuels. On the disagreement side of things is how much production should come from nuclear production, with men being much more bullish (32%) versus women (15%).

• 👶👵Age doesn’t have a huge effect: While the numbers are not identical, the range of differentiation is relatively small when it comes to different age groups. All four of our age groups put renewable energy at the top of the list, with Americans ages 75 and over having the highest average concentration (53%) and those 56-74 having the lowest (45%). The percentage of energy that should come from nuclear sources is also a small band, with 18-39-year-olds wanting 27% to come from this source on average, while 56-74-year-olds put the number at 20%. Fossil fuels had the biggest differences with older Gen X/younger Boomers (the 56-74 cohort) wanting the biggest share (32%), and young Millennials/older Gen Z (18-29 year olds) wanting just 13% to come from fossil fuels on average.

• 🔴🔵💜Shocking no one, partisanship has an effect: These days, it’s just about a given that this will be the case but there are nonetheless some commonalities (in theory). First, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all put renewable energy at the top. That being said, the concentrations are very different. Democrats put renewables at 68%, while Republicans, on average, would like to see the number at 38%. Independents are the lowest at 32%. When it comes to fossil fuels, Republicans would like to see 36% of our energy come from these sources, while Democrats would keep it much lower (11%). Independents are in the middle at 21%.