Island's move to energy efficiency stops at SUVs

BY JENNIFER SMITH | jennifer.smith@newsday.com

May 6, 2008

Long Islanders have switched to energy-efficient lightbulbs and adjusted their thermostats, but the region's nascent green revolution may stop in the driveway.

Most residents have no plans to abandon their sport utility vehicles or spacious sedans for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, according to a Long Island Index poll released Monday.

The survey asked more than 850 Long Island residents their opinions on climate change and energy efficiency.

Results were mixed. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they believe global warming is already happening. But more than half said it would not threaten them or their way of life during their lifetimes.

The poll showed residents were willing to adopt some changes wholeheartedly. More than 90 percent said they would choose an energy-efficient appliance over a cheaper but less efficient model.

But one sacrifice many Long Island drivers appear unwilling to make is swapping a bigger vehicle for a more fuel-efficient model. Conducted amid rising fuel prices in February and March, the survey showed that, while one-tenth of drivers would consider buying a hybrid and 14 percent would consider a compact, roughly two-thirds of drivers preferred something other than a smaller car with better gas mileage.

Nearly three-quarters now drive SUVs, trucks and medium-sized cars such as sedans or station wagons.

Economic, generational and political divides also shaped responses. Affluent, liberal residents tended to show more support for shouldering upfront costs of big investments in future energy efficiency.

All told, 46 percent of all those surveyed said they would pay more on their electric bill if the Long Island Power Authority developed large-scale solar and wind-power projects. Only 32 percent of those making less than $35,000 backed an increase, compared with 57 percent of those earning $100,000 or more.

John McNally of the Rauch Foundation, a Garden City-based nonprofit philanthropic group that funded the survey, called on LIPA to develop renewable energy sources as well as energy conservation programs.

Noting that the utility just announced a 50-megawatt solar power project, LIPA president and Chief Executive Kevin Law said he was committed to "exploring large-scale renewable projects, but I need to balance those desires with the economic impacts such projects would have on our ratepayers."