The public overwhelmingly prefers alternative energy and energy conservation over the construction of a new coal-fired power plant, according to a scientific survey of 603 North Carolina residents.

The survey was intended to gauge public support for a coal plant Duke Energy plans to build near Hickory. The survey found that about four out of five North Carolina residents agree that “North Carolina should focus on increased energy efficiency and conservation steps and more use of sustainable energy to reduce demand for electricity before it goes ahead with a new coal-fired power plant.” By party, the breakdown was 74 percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Independents.

“Duke Energy does not have the support of the public when it embraces a 19th century solution like coal to deal with the challenges of a 21st century world that requires clean energy solutions that create new jobs and cut global warming pollution,” said Gail Pressberg, a senior fellow with the Civil Society Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank that sanctioned the survey. The survey was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation.

Other key survey findings include:

• Roughly seven out of 10 would pick clean wind or solar energy if they “could decide where to invest money in new electric power generation for North Carolina.” Nuclear is favored by 22 percent and just 7 percent favor coal.

• About six out of 10 (59 percent) would be more likely to vote for “a candidate for public office who spoke out against Duke Energy’s planned coal-fired plant for North Carolina.” By party, the breakdown was 52 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Democrats and 58 percent Independents.

• Nearly three out of four (73 percent) would oppose “the building of another coal-fired power plant in North Carolina if they knew it would result in additional mercury contamination and carbon dioxide pollution, which scientists believe contribute to global warming.” Over half (53 percent) would strongly oppose such construction.

• Of the one in four who support construction of a coal plant, the breakdown by party is 38 percent of Republicans, 15 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of Independents.

• Few residents know about Duke’s plan to build a coal plant — 10 percent have little knowledge and 56 percent knew nothing about it. Only 34 percent say they are aware, with just 9 percent “very aware.”

• Nearly nine out of 10 agreed with a five-year moratorium on new coal-fired plants, focusing on aggressive expansion of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, and providing tax breaks and incentives to make their homes more energy efficient and reduce energy demands.

• More than four out of five (84 percent) agree that an energy policy that promotes sustainable and renewable technologies would create jobs and strengthen the economy, and help the country “to disentangle itself from unstable and hostile regions of the world while also reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.”

• Roughly nine out of 10 (89 percent) “think it is time for the leaders of our nation to start thinking in terms of the concept of a ‘new industrial revolution,’ one that is characterized by the orderly phasing out of fossil fuels and the phasing in of clean, renewable energy sources.

• More than four out of five North Carolina residents (82 percent) agree that “the effects of global warming require that we take timely and decisive steps for renewable, safe and clean energy sources. We need transitional technologies on our path to energy independence. There are tough choices to be made and tradeoffs. We cannot afford to postpone decisions since there are no perfect options.”

For full findings from the new survey, go to www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org.