Monday, June 28, 2010

NEW POLL: Americans turn against offshore drilling

 
According to a new Pew Research Center poll, the gulf spill is causing public support for offshore oil drilling to seriously wane. This, from our friends over at Climate Progress:

 

Back in February of this year, 63 percent of the public supported more offshore drilling as a policy response to address our energy needs, compared to 31 percent who were opposed. Today a majority of the public—52 percent—opposes offshore drilling, and support has fallen to 44 percent.

Compare those views on allowing more offshore drilling to the robust support for requiring that new homes and buildings meet higher efficiency standards (78 percent), for increasing federal funding for research on wind, solar, and hydrogen technology (75 percent), and for spending more on subway, rail, and bus systems (64 percent).



This comes on the heels of last week's NBC/WSJ poll, indicating strong support for energy reform and a growing distaste for offshore drilling. The public is sending a clear message about their priorities for meeting our energy needs.

Last year Big Oil and other corporate polluters spent a record $168 million lobbying Congress. They’ve launched an unprecedented smear campaign to defeat comprehensive climate legislation and protect their profits.

Making matters worse, a recent Supreme Court ruling opens the floodgates for oil companies like Exxon Mobil to tap their vast corporate profits to also influence the outcome of federal elections.

We need your help now more than ever to continue building on the important progress we’ve made towards creating a cleaner, more sustainable future.

League of Conservation Voters
1920 L Street, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036

This article originally published at:  http://www.actgreen.com