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But even with its political support, when compared with other energy sources nuclear seems to have a bad rap among the general public. As compared with a number of energy sources, coal was the only option respondents regarded less favorably than nuclear, with 24 percent viewing coal favorably and 58 percent unfavorably.

Nuclear energy’s net favorability — the favorable share minus the unfavorable share — is similarly underwater, at minus 20 points; this is nearly 70 points below that of natural gas, a fossil fuel whose emissions contribute to climate change. Zero-emission sources such as solar and wind topped the list, with net favorabilities of 76 and 65 points, respectively. 

And despite the fact that nuclear energy also emits no carbon, the respondents who reported they were concerned about climate change view nuclear slightly less favorably than the general public, at 55 percent unfavorable and 27 percent favorable.

This hierarchy of preferred power sources generally tracks with the results of another question, asking respondents which source they would choose if they had influence over where their utility company got the power to run their house or apartment. Solar was by far the most popular, at 44 percent, followed by natural gas (18 percent), wind (10 percent), nuclear (4 percent), hydrological (3 percent) and coal (1 percent). Nineteen percent said they had no preference. 

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