Virginians gloomy about future of environment

Virginians are pessimistic about the future of the state's natural environment, citing the health of the Chesapeake Bay and mountaintop coal removal as two top concerns, according to a survey released this week by Christopher Newport University's Center for Public Policy and the Virginia Environmental Endowment.

The statewide survey asked respondents for a general assessment of Virginia's natural environment today and 10 years from now. More than three-quarters of respondents assessed the state's current natural environment with a ranking of B or C, by far the largest categories. When asked about the environment 10 years from now, more respondents said it would get much worse than those who said it would get much better.

Despite an ongoing debate about global warming, 76.1 percent of respondents believe it is happening, but only 29.6 percent have made major changes to their behavior, the survey results said. Almost 60 percent have made minor changes.

Overall, respondents were concerned about several environmental issues, but the top two were the mountaintop removal of coal and the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

Last week, William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, called the Bay a "national disgrace." He offered his blunt assessment in releasing the annual State of the Bay report card, which grades the overall health of the Bay.

For 2008, the foundation gave the Bay a combined score of 28 on a scale of 1 to 100. In classroom terms, that equates to a D, the same grade as in 2007 and just one point higher than what the foundation first reported, in 1998.

Last month, the Chesapeake Bay Program, a government office leading cleanup efforts among six states, the U.S. government and Washington, D.C., gave the Bay a similar low environmental score.

Survey respondents were asked how much they would be willing to spend to protect the environment and natural resources.

Nearly eight in 10 respondents said they think it would be worth paying for a new car or new home if the cars used less gas and the homes less energy.

Only half support cutting funding for new highway construction to increase funding for rail, transit and other driving alternatives.

A tax credit of about $500 would be incentive for seven in 10 to make existing homes and buildings more energy efficient, but it would lead only half of the respondents to purchase a hybrid car.

Overall, those surveyed said they doubt the state's environment will improve.

Two-thirds believe Virginia's environment will stay the same or get worse in the next 10 years.

The survey included 659 randomly selected registered Virginia voters who were contacted by phone in March. It has a margin of error of about 3.8 percentage points.

It is the first of three planned surveys with the goal of providing an assessment of the public opinion and contributing to a public dialogue on the topic.

The full report is available online at http://cpp.cnu.edu/.

Lauren King, (757) 446-2309, lauren.king@pilotonline.com