Is Nuclear Power Just Another Environmental Issue?

Abstract

An analysis of 1976 California primary voters who voted on the nuclear power proposition indicates that both nuclear power opinion and general environmental attitude have similar patterns of demographic and political correlates, as earlier environmental opinion research has reported. Nuclear power attitudes, however, are characterized by a much larger partisan and ideological component than is the general environmental attitude. In explaining the 35% of respondents with "inconsistent" nuclear and environmental attitudes, only education and income are significantly linked to consistency.