Fishermen’s Energy Releases Public Opinion Study Results

CAPE MAY, N.J., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Fishermen’s Energy is pleased to release the very positive results of a recently conducted public opinion study. The study titled “Survey of Residents & Visitors in Four Communities Along the Southern New Jersey Shore” was published by Sharon Schulman and Jason Rivera at The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy, in accordance with methodology utilized by Zogby International.

Fishermen’s Energy commissioned Zogby International and The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy, under the auspices of the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, to develop and administer a survey to discern the public’s sentiments in reference to Fishermen’s Energy’s proposed wind farm project, which will be located three miles off shore from Atlantic City and develop a report of the survey.

“Contrasted with a similar poll exactly three years earlier, we see that a huge amount of support has grown from both residents and visitors in support of wind mills three miles off Atlantic City’s shore,” commented Sharon Schulman, Special Assistant to the President for External Affairs & Executive Director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy. Schulman went on to say, “The survey is quite explicit in pointing out that not only do residents and tourists not mind having wind turbines off the shore of Atlantic City, two-thirds of the respondents believe that it will have a positive effect on Atlantic City and the environment.”

Daniel Cohen, Fishermen’s President said, “Public opinion has significantly shifted from 2006 to 2009. The results of the survey are yet another signal that society is ready to and wants to invest in Renewable Energy.”

Some highlights of the study include:

• 90% of the respondents were aware that electricity could be produced by using offshore wind turbines
• Support for a wind turbine project 3 miles off the Atlantic City shore is strong among all subgroups and almost 30 percentage points higher than a similar question asked in 2006.
• Most residents do not feel that this project would have a negative impact on Atlantic City and the local environment. In fact, 66% thought it would have a positive impact.
• More than three-quarters of the visitors said it would have no effect on whether or not they would visit the Atlantic City area and another 19% said that they would be a little or a lot more likely to visit the area.
  

The survey and results (in a comprehensive presentation) are posted on the Fishermen’s website and the Stockton/Hughes Center website.

www.fishermensenergy.com and http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=135&pageID=19

SOURCE Fishermen’s Energy