Wind farms in, nuclear out: survey

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Wind-farms-in-nuclear-out-survey/2007/10/27/1192941377700.html

Most Australians trust wind farms and the CSIRO, but are not keen on nuclear power stations or genetically modified crops, according to a new survey.

The National Technology and Society Monitor, conducted by the Australian Centre for Emerging Technologies and Society at Swinburne University of Technology, questioned one thousand people about their attitudes toward new and emerging technology.

The survey found 81 per cent of respondents are comfortable with wind farms.

"For most people it's an abstract kind of support because they don't live near wind farms and don't have much to do with them," centre director, Professor Michael Gilding, explained.

There was much less support for nuclear power stations, with more than half those surveyed stating some level of discomfort, despite the industry receiving support from a government review earlier this year.

"In the last 12 months we've seen the issue come back onto the public agenda, but the mood of the public hasn't shifted and people remain highly concerned about the technology," Prof Gilding said.

The survey also found significant differences in comfort ratings for nuclear power related to gender and that Liberal voters were more comfortable with nuclear power than Labor voters.

Another discovery from the survey was that half of those questioned were uncomfortable with genetically modified (GM) plants, while two-thirds felt the same way about genetically modified animals for food.

"In this country, governments are in fact moving towards a more permissive position on genetically modified plants and earlier this year a government report suggested landmark shifts in attitudes," said Prof Gilding.

"But in the (survey), there wasn't any change in reaction to genetically modified plants and overall most people remain uncomfortable with GM agriculture. There's certainly no evidence for a major sea change on that score."

govt funded NGO's

Isn't that an oxymoron?

what off topic reply ?

Nuclear will not come to pass because Labor opposes it.

Genetically modfied-we're stuck with it.