Poll: Majority of Americans favor oil drilling in off-limits areas

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: CNN

From CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

(CNN) – A new Gallup poll suggests more than half of the country may support a proposal backed by President Bush and Sen. John McCain to allow states to authorize off-shore oil drilling, a practice currently banned by the federal government.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans favor allowing oil drilling in coastal and wilderness areas that are currently off-limits. Forty-one percent of Americans oppose allowing drilling in those areas, and 2 percent have no opinion.

The poll also reveals a partisan divide on the issue. Eighty percent of Republicans surveyed favored opening up off-limits areas to oil exploration and 56 percent of independents favored allowing the practice. But 59 percent of Democrats opposed the idea.

During the last week, the prospect of oil drilling off the U.S. coast has become into a major policy dispute between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, respectively the presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees, and between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill....

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/19/poll-majority-of-americans-favor-oil-drilling-in-off-limits-areas/

[liberal N proud]

1. Because they don't know the truth

They have been told it is safe for the environment, that there is more oil there than the mid-east.
They believe it will be ready immediately and it will lower the price of gas in their steel dinosaurs.

They don't care about the impact it has to the environment as long as they can still afford to drive a block to pick up a gallon of ice cream and drive back home again.

People are just plain fucking stupid.

[daggahead]

2. It is because ...

... the public has bought the line that we need to do this.

There are 33 million acres that contain more than 13 billion barrels of oil that the oil companies have leased. They are sitting on this instead of uncapping the wells that have already been drilled on these lands. Some of the lands have yet to be drilled, but the oil companies have the drilling rights already for them.

What are they waiting for?

They want to tie up more land. They want to continue to rack up record profits.

What Enron did to California is now happening to the entire USA.

[niyad]

3. who did they poll? who paid for the poll? and how many would respond differently if EVERYONE

knew the facts about how much of the offshore and onshore leases are NOT even being used ( seventy-five percent) and if they had any idea how little oil there really is in ANWR, or any of the other places, and how long it would take to get that oil out and refined? and just how much of our entire economic crisis--oil, rising prices, etc, is directly related to the unjust, immoral and illegal war of occupation based on lies perpetrated by der chimpenfuhrer and company? why isn't there any real coverage of the connections?

no, americans are generally too ignorant of basic facts. this is pathetic.

[daggahead]

6. Hey Niyad ...

Did you see American Gladiators the other night?

I'll be the people taking the poll did!

[niyad]

19. what is "american gladiators"??

[Mz Pip]

8. Who did they poll?

I wonder...

I seriously doubt the people of Florida want more rigs. Maybe they say they do, but it's only because they know it won't happen. Makes it really easy to get with the GOP talking points whn you know there is no chance it will happen.

[PATRICK]

10. It's easy

ANy poll about goring someone else's geography when you personally are hurting is automatically guaranteed a first gut reaction conducive to the result desired and predetermined. If the poll sample included only locals it wouldn't have this selfish principle overwhelmingly present there. If the poll found that most opposed the plan(because of just fury over the scam or love of the environment mystically showed up despite the MSM brainwashing) you wouldn't hear much about it. If you polled pollsters about their opinion about that I bet they would agree, but they don't do that type of poll for good reason.

What surprises me in this era of deception and glorified self-interest is that sometimes the voice of the people gets out contrary to the conditioning anyway. I suppose polls exist to periodically measure the temperature of the tortured for effectiveness of the conditioning.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. If facts were reported with as much vigor as the spin people would know.

As it is, their minds are filled daily with twisted talking points and little more.

I agree it's pathetic.

[BOSSHOG]

4. And said drilling is being sold as a short term solution

[Jefferson23]

5. Great, more good news, first immunity for telecom, now this..idiots

[sandnsea]

7. greedy, greedy, greedy

Until somebody tells Americans they've got to stop being so damn greedy, nothing will change. Floods, drought, ice caps melting - never mind, let's drill for more oil to destroy the planet.

[seasat]

9. People intially favored temporarily cutting the gas tax.

That was until it was pointed out to them that it would make only 18 cents difference in the price per gallon while gutting highway funds. If it is pointed out that we do not have enough oil reserves to make a significant difference in the price of gas, people will come around.

[Warpy]

11. Sure, why not? It's not like they're ever going to afford

one of those damn yuppie high rise time shares that wall the beach off from the rest of us.

People who are denied access to what we should all own in common don't tend to care when industry destroys it.

[Demobrat]

12. The majority of Americans don't live where

they would be affected by the oil spills that would surely happen. When you live in Kansas what do you care if some beach in FLA or SOCAL is covered in oil?

[emmadoggy]

17. I live in Iowa and I care.

But yes, I get your point. Unless it's their own backyard, many don't care.

As others have said in this thread, if people were just educated about a few facts, this poll would come out very differently, I believe. Of course, we can't rely on our "esteemed" media to do that educating, now can we??

[darue]

14. I espeically favor drill off Florida. It's all a DEAD ZONE anyway n/t

[Jefferson23]

21. LOL,... very good!

[DailyGrind51]

15. This is how the Republicans will appeal to voters,

through their gas tanks. Ed Schultz was having trouble getting callers to even slow down to 55 mph. Americans will not give an inch voluntarily and Republicans know this.

[Politicalboi]

16. Once again

If this poll is right we see the stupidity of Americans again. Don't they see that drilling offshore is like using a spoon to bail the Titanic. It ain't gonna help and the prices are not going to go down. This whole thing like the war is what Bush calls "Catapulting the Propaganda". We have to come up with an alternative source. They have them but they have been put on a shelf for years. I like the Air Car the best. No growing crops and using that land for energy. Or not using water which I think is another disaster waiting to happen.

[emmadoggy]

18. I like the Air Car too.

I think they are a great innovation.

[Javaman]

20. "I. Drink. Your. Milkshake!!! I drink it up!!!" nt

[bunkerbuster1]

22. Frankly surprised it isn't a bigger split.

There's been very little light cast on this issue to date. You ask if we ought to ease up on drilling restrictions to allow it in some place you're not likely to even see, most are going to just say "sure, why not?"

But the other thing is, this isn't a deal-killer for most. I can't see anyone saying "I was going to vote for Obama, but I can't in good conscience knowing that he didn't conveniently change his mind on this like good ol' McCain."

[dipsydoodle]

23. They simply don't undestand the issue.

They fall into the trap of believing it will mean cheaper fuel.

In reality, becuase you have a miltary which cannot function without oil, the majority of its use when it eventually comes out of the ground in 10 years or so is more likely be for military reserve. As such its price wil be comletely arbitary as it will paid for by your tax dollars.

[defendandprotect]

24. Proving that right-wing prop[aganda still works and that the depths of

American ignorance look lower than originally thought--!!!

[MasonJar]

25. Absurd! The American people are duped and it is time they started

paying attention. The Congress had better not do this; they never pay attention on anything important that the people want. I am personally getting damn sick of this country.

[anigbrowl]

26. People are lazy and selfish, and 'drill' is a nice easy word.

I was discussing this over dinner with Ms Browl last night. It's a shrewd tactic on the part of the GOP, although I wonder if they have not set out their stall a little early with it. In turn, Democrats should stop wittering about 'loopholes' and so on (which requires people to put on their thinking caps) and embrace the word 'scam'.