The back and forth debate on a proposed Fibrowatt power plant in Surry County is way too complex to summarize in this space, although you can read some of the ongoing arguments here, here or here.
But no matter the reason, a majority of local residents are in opposition to the $140 million project, according to Yadkin Riverkeeper, an advocacy group for protecting the area’s river basin. The organization commissioned a telephone survey by non partisan Public Policy Polling, the results of which show overwhelming views against Fibrowatt or industrial development in general for the area. These findings would dispute county commissioners’ long cited claims that the majority of residents are in favor of the project.
When assessing any survey, however, it’s critical to look at the specific wording of the questions asked, especially with a complex topic like this. County commissioners say they’ve recieved complaints from those surveyed that the questions were skewed against Fibrowatt. I wasn’t surveyed myself, but I requested from Yadkin Riverkeeper a copy of the questions. I’ll report back if they’re sent over.
I’m pretty sure I got that poll, and from what I remember it didn’t strike me as well formed. I picked up the bias early on, asked a bunch of leading questions, and it forced people to take sides in their answers (all yes or no answers, no “unsure / don’t know” option, and it didn’t measure degrees of support/opposition)
Forcing me to pick between a vision of the area as heavy industry center or expanding on agriculture and tourism I’m going to go with the agriculture and tourism (like 80% of the other poll takers), but it doesn’t mean I (or they) are steadfastly opposed to recruiting heavy industry. The fact is we need to diversify our economy, which means recruiting industry along side growing tourism and agriculture, and promoting small businesses.