Tuesday December 17. 2002

A number of opinion polls have been carried out examining attitudes toward the Kárahnjúkar Hydroelectric Project. The most extensive polls have been conducted by the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Iceland and Gallup. The Icelandic media has also carried out a number of smaller polls.

A new poll carried out by the daily newspaper Frettabladid found that more than 64% of respondents that take sides favour the construction of the Kárahnjúkar hydro station and the building of an aluminium plant in Reydarfjordur, East Iceland. These results are somewhat similar to those from previous polls examining attitudes toward the project.

The project enjoys significantly greater support outside the Reykjavik area where about 75% of those who took sides are in favour of the project in contrast to about 57.5% in Reykjavik and nearby areas. Men are more in favour of the project than women.

The question asked was: Are you in favour of or opposed to the Kárahnjúkar hydro station and the building of an aluminium plant in Reydarfjordur?

Of all the respondents 54.3% were in favour of the project, 30.2% opposed, 12.3% were undecided and 3% refused to answer. The sample consisted of 600 people and was divided evenly between genders and proportionally between constituencies.

A summary of older polls carried out to examine attitudes toward the project can be found here.