72% Support Offshore Drilling, 59% Favor It Off California and New England

Rasmussenreports.com – Fri Apr 2, 10:56 am ET

Voters support offshore oil drilling more than ever, and most don't agree with President Obama's decision to limit where that drilling can be done.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 72% of U.S. voters believe offshore oil drilling should be allowed. Just 12% disagree and oppose such drilling, with another 16% who aren't sure. This is the highest level of support for drilling found in nearly three years of surveying.

The survey was taken Wednesday and Thursday nights following the president's announcement permitting new offshore oil and natural gas drilling. But because of political opposition in those states, the president stopped short of allowing drilling off the coasts of California and New England.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters say offshore drilling should be permitted off the coasts of California and the New England states. Twenty-four percent (24%) oppose drilling there, and 17% are not sure.

But 44% believe individual states should have the right to ban drilling off their own coastlines, although that's down four points from December. Thirty-two percent (32%) disagree and do not think states should have that right. Nearly one-out-of-four voters (23%) are undecided on the question.

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Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters say it is at least somewhat likely that gas and oil prices will go down if the United States allows offshore drilling, with 28% who say it's very likely. Thirty-four percent (34%) think prices are unlikely to go down because of the drilling, but that includes just nine percent (9%) who say it's not at all likely. These figures are little changed from previous surveys.

Despite the strong support for offshore drilling and the belief that it will lower gas and oil prices, voters are closely divided in their concerns about the possible environmental impact. Forty-nine percent (49%) are at least somewhat concerned that new offshore drilling will cause environmental problems, with 18% who are very concerned. Forty-nine percent (49%) don't share that concern, including 11% who are not at all concerned.

Support among male voters for offshore drilling is 21 points higher than among women. Seventy-three percent (73%) of men believe drilling should be permitted off California and New England, compared to 48% of female voters.

Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party favor offshore oil drilling more than Democrats do. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of GOP voters and 61% of unaffiliateds favor drilling off California and New England. Democrats are evenly divided on the question.

But as is often the case, the differences between Mainstream Americans and the Political Class are even sharper. Eighty-two percent (82%) of Mainstream voters support offshore drilling, compared to just 34% of the Political Class. A plurality (47%) of Political Class voters opposes such drilling.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of Mainstream voters think drilling should be allowed off the coasts of New England and California, but 74% of the Political Class disagree.

But then 86% of the Political Class are concerned that new drilling will cause environmental problems, a view shared by only 43% of Mainstream voters.

Gas prices have increased 85 cents over the past year to nearly $3 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and an overwhelming majority of Americans believe they will continue to rise. ut that doesn't mean most adults are driving any less.

By a 55% to 32% margin, most voters continue to believe finding new sources of energy is more important than reducing the amount of energy Americans now consume. Support for finding new sources of energy has been this high or higher for months.

In February, the president announced an $8.3-billion government loan guarantee to build the first new nuclear plant in this country in over a quarter of a century. Nearly half of Americans (49%) favor the building of new nuclear power plants. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are opposed to the idea, and 24% are not sure.

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This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports March 31-April 1, 2010. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence (see methodology).

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

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