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Support For Offshore Drilling Dropped 19 Points

7/3/2010, by Proloy Bhatta

HIGHLIGHTS

• 72% favor and 27% oppose an increase to offshore drilling before the oil spill.
• 53% favor and 46% oppose after the oil spill.
• Only 41% approve of Obama's handling of the oil spill

Polls give us a lense with which to view how major events affect public opinion.

So let's see how this BP oil spill has affected the public's view of offshore drilling.

CNN conducted three polls in 2008 in which they asked adults nationwide whether they favored or opposed an increase to offshore drilling.

According to the average of these polls, 72% favor and 27% oppose an increase to offshore drilling. Two polls have been conducted post oil spill and the average of those polls find that 53% favor and 46% oppose.

Despite the fact that support has dropped 19% since the oil spill, a majority of Americans still favor increasing offshore drilling. After having discussed this issue with some of my Democratic colleagues, a majority of them are surprised that anybody could be in favor of offshore drilling after seeing the consequences of it. But the flip side would say, as I heard on Conservative talk radio, "after one single plane crash, you do not hault the entire airline industry".

I wonder if those in the south are any more likely to oppose this issue after seeing the environmental consequences of offshore spills and then even crosstab it by political affiliation with other regions of the country.

Obama placed a moratorium on offshore drilling despite the fact that the majority of Americans are not only in favor of current levels of offshore drilling but are in favor of an increase to it.

According to a FOX News poll conducted June 29-30, only 41% approve of Obama's handling of the oil spill.

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