Gallup poll: Fewer Americans see the energy situation as 'very serious'
Americans view the United States' energy situation as improving, with only 28 percent saying they view the situation as "very serious." According to a Gallup poll, this year is the first time since 2002 that number has been so low.
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Gallup has been conducting the poll for 38 years, and 2002 was the only time fewer Americans were worried about the country's energy picture. The number has been decreasing over the last four years.
In 2001, the survey saw the highest level of worry about the energy situation, with 58 percent of respondents saying they saw it as "very serious." The number corresponded with the rolling blackouts in California that year, but in 2002, only 22 percent felt the same way. But the drop could be related to other events.
"These two data points straddle the events of 9/11, so the 2002 low may be related to a shift in the attention Americans were paying to the issue," Gallup explained. "Since then, the percentage has reached as high as 46 percent, but has been consistently down during the past four years, falling from 45 percent in 2011 to the current post-2002 low of 28 percent."
In 2015, 50 percent of respondents also said the situation is fairly serious, and 20 percent said it was not at all serious.
Political parties generally also affect the perceptions of the energy system, but in 2015 the view were very similar -- with 29 percent of Democrats and Republicans calling the situation "very serious, and 28 percent of Independents calling it "very serious."
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