PA: Papers Leave Out Support for Clean Energy
A new Media Matters analysis finds that Pennsylvania's two largest newspapers largely omitted any discussion of the broad public support for clean energy in the Keystone State. During a six week analysis of coverage in The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, both papers failed to acknowledge Pennsylvanians attitudes on clean energy in their reporting on energy issues in general, and only mentioned clean energy in 9 of 62 articles:
As of 2010, Pennsylvania made the Solar Energy Industries Association's top 10 list for cumulative installed solar capacity. In addition, both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have been designated Solar America Cities by the Department of Energy. Through the solar energy initiative championed by former Governor Ed Rendell, consumers could expect to see savings of $10 billion by 2017. [...]
Green energy is also very popular among Pennsylvania residents. According to an October 2010 poll by Susquehanna Polling and Research, 85 percent of Pennsylvania voters surveyed thought it was important to support continued expansion of wind energy farms. In addition, a majority of voters would still support clean energy technology even if it cost $2 extra per month. Another poll conducted in April 2012 by the Small Business Majority found that 73 percent of Pennsylvania small business owners surveyed thought that government investment in clean energy has an important role in boosting our national economy. Pennsylvania's largest newspaper, however, have entirely failed to report this dynamic.
Posted by Sierra Club at 12:00:23 PM
in Pennsylvania
