Poll: 70% support fed wave/tidal expenditure point blank

Cambridge, Massachusetts-A recent survey conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation shows that nearly half of Americans are not aware of the vast potential of generating electricity from the motion of waves, tides, and currents. However, when asked if the federal government should be funding ocean energy projects, seventy percent (70%) of the 900 registered voters contacted by telephone voiced their support. When asked to factor in ocean energy's potential help in reducing America's dependency on foreign sources of energy, eighty-one percent (81%) said that they would be more likely to support increased funding.

"I was impressed by how quickly people were able to grasp the concept," stated Ernest Paicopolos, a principal at Opinion Dynamics (www.opiniondynamics.com). "The level of awareness is actually a little better than I would have guessed. This is a relatively young industry despite the fact that these technologies have been discussed for decades," he added. "The most striking numbers in this survey are clearly how much people support federal funding even in those instances where they were just exposed to the concept for the first time through this survey."

The survey was conducted March 14 and 15, 2006 and included a random sample of 900 registered voters, nationwide. The results have a +/- 3.3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.