Nebraskans’ views of wind energy development and wildlife: Results of the 2012 and 2013 Nebraska Annual Social

Indicators Survey

Caroline Jezierski, Craig Allen, Michelle Koch, Joseph Fontaine, Rick Schneider, Tim McCoy

SURVEY INTRODUCTION

• The Nebraska Wind and Wildlife Project contributed to the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

• The NASIS is an omnibus survey of quality of life in the state of Nebraska conducted by the Bureau of Sociological Research at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

• The purpose of the questions was to gather information about Nebraskan's views and opinions of wind energy development and wildlife.

2012 2013

Addresses Sampled 3,600 6,000

Number of Responses 954 1,067

Response Rates 29% 27%*

Wind – Wildlife Questions 8 5

SURVEY NUMBERS

QUESTION FORMAT

Likert – type Scale Strongly Disagree - Disagree - Neither Disagree nor Agree - Agree - Strongly Agree

- Do Not Know For Analysis, Do Not Know responses were not included

VARIABLES

• Male & Female

• Urban – Zip Codes for Metropolitan Areas – Grand Island – Lincoln – Omaha – Sioux City (south)

• Rural – All Other Zip Codes

ANALYSIS

• Pairwise Comparisons – Male & Female – Rural & Urban – Rural Males & Rural Females – Urban Males & Urban Females – Rural Males & Urban Males – Rural Females & Urban Females

• Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test • Significant – p ≤ 0.05

2012 2013

Variable Frequency % Frequency %

Gender

Male 428 45.8 457 42.8

Female 506 54.2 604 56.6

Location Designation

Rural 516 56.3 560 52.5

Male 247 48.1 243 43.4

Female 266 51.9 314 56.1

Urban 400 43.7 508 47.6

Male 174 43.5 213 41.9

Female 226 56.5 290 57.1

2% 4%

10%

39%

40%

5%

Do you support or oppose wind energy development in Nebraska?

Strongly oppose

Oppose

Neither oppose nor support

Support

Strongly support

Do not know

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

MalesFemales

Rural Urban RuralMales

RuralFemales

UrbanMales

UrbanFemales

Do you support or oppose wind energy development in Nebraska?

Oppose

Support

No Significant Differences Between Any Comparisons

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Very unlikely Somewhatunlikely

Neitherunlikely nor

likely

Somewhatlikely

Very likely Would not dothese activities

anywhere

Do not know

How likely or unlikely are you to go fishing, hunting, hiking, etc.

Within 1 Mile Within SightNo Significant Differences

Between Any Comparisons

More likely to recreate within sight than within 1 mile of a turbine.

5%

20%

27%

3% 3%

42%

How much do you agree or disagree that current wind energy regulations in Nebraska adequately

protect wildlife?

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Do not know

Urban Females Disagree More than Urban Males and Rural Females

5%

26%

20% 19%

24%

6%

Are you concerned or unconcerned that birds and bats are killed as a result of wind energy

development?

Very concerned

SomewhatconcernedNeither concernednor unconcernedSomewhatunconcernedVery unconcerned

Do not know

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

MalesFemales

Rural Urban RuralMales

RuralFemales

UrbanMales

UrbanFemales

Are you concerned or unconcerned that birds and bats are killed as a result of wind energy

development?

Concerned

unconcerned

Significant Differences in All Except Urban Males & Urban Females – Females and Urban more concerned.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Veryconcerned

Somewhatconcerned

Slightlyconcerned

Not at allconcerned

Don't know

Perc

ent

How concerned are you that each of the following types of wildlife listed below can be negatively

impacted or killed as a result of wind energy development and/or operation?

Eagles

Hawks

Songbirds

Cranes

Grouse

Ducks

Geese

Bats

Deer

Elk

Pronghorn Antelope

Furbearers

Endangered Species

Significant Difference Between Nearly All - Females and Urban more concerned.

5%

10%

18%

44%

17%

6%

Do you agree or disagree that wind energy facility development and operation should have to take

precautions to reduce impacts on wildlife?

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither disagree or agree

Agree

Strongly agree

Do not know

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Males Females Rural Urban RuralMales

RuralFemales

UrbanMales

UrbanFemales

Do you agree or disagree that wind energy facility (i.e. wind farm) development and operation should

have to take precautions to reduce impacts on wildlife?

Disagree

Agree

Significant Differences in All Except Urban Males & Urban Females – Females and Urban agree more

19%

40%

30%

9%

2%

How much would you support or oppose regulations in Nebraska that require wind energy

development and operation to minimize impacts to wildlife?

Strongly support

Support

Neither support nor oppose

Oppose

Strongly oppose

Significant Difference in All But Rural Males & Rural Females – Females and Urban support more

21%

43%

20%

5%

2% 9%

How much do you agree or disagree that developers should pay for impacts of wind energy

developments to native Nebraska habitats?

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Do not know

Significant Difference Between Rural & Urban - Urban Agrees More

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Very unlikely Somewhatunlikely

Neitherunlikely nor

likely

Somewhatlikely

Very likely Do not know

How likely or unlikely are you to support placement of wind turbines on the following...

Cropland

Grassland

Wetlands

River Valleys

Recreational Lands

Residential Lands

Industrial Lands

22%

43%

28%

5% 2%

How much do you support or oppose wind energy development in remote, un-fragmented landscapes

in Nebraska?

Strongly support

Support

Neither support nor oppose

Oppose

Strongly oppose

No Significant Differences Between Any Comparisons

20.6

14 12.8

25.9

17.6

9.1

20.4

10.7 12.5

24.9 23.8

7.7

Very unlikely Somewhatunlikely

Neither unlikelynor likely

Somewhat likely Very likely Do not know

How likely or unlikely are you to pay $2 more a month on your electricity bill tosupport wind energy development?

If wind energy development was planned in a manner that reduces impacts onwildlife resources, how likely or unlikely would you be to pay $2 more permonth on your electricity bill to support wind energy development?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Males Females Rural Urban RuralMales

RuralFemales

UrbanMales

UrbanFemales

How likely or unlikely are you to pay $2 more a month on your electricity bill to support wind energy

development?

Unlikely

Likely

Significant Differences Between Males & Females, Rural & Urban, and Rural Males & Rural Females

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Males Females Rural Urban RuralMales

RuralFemales

UrbanMales

UrbanFemales

If wind energy development was planned in a manner that reduces impacts on wildlife resources, how likely or unlikely would you be to pay $2 more per month on your electricity bill to support wind

energy development?

Unlikely

Likely

Significant Differences Between Males & Females, Rural & Urban, Rural Males & Rural Females, and Rural & Urban Males

SUMMARY - 1

• The majority of participants: – Support wind energy development. – Agree that precautions should be taken to

minimize impacts to wildlife. – Agree that developers should pay for impacts to

habitat. – Would support regulations requiring wind energy

development and operation to minimize impacts to wildlife.

– Support development in unfragmented landscapes such as grasslands.

SUMMARY - 2

• There were some questions for which there were no significant differences found between the pairs.

• In general, females and urban participants are more concerned about impacts to wildlife and feel more strongly that developers should take precautions and pay for impacts.

Survey results can be found at: http://snr.unl.edu/renewableenergy/wind/research.asp#surveys Reports on survey responses for the Public Power Districts are available online & handouts at the project booth. Questions?? Contact windwildlife@unl.edu