Americans favor emissions limits & R&D, oppose drilling in ANWR
[detailed tables omitted because they format badly; see www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=3D27100> if you want ‘em] April 05, 2007
Most Americans Back Curbs on Auto Emissions, Other Environmental = Proposals
Solid majority opposes drilling for oil in Alaskan wilderness by Lydia Saad
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup’s annual Environment survey, updated Mar. = 11-14, 2007, finds the overwhelming majority of Americans supporting = environmental proposals that would strengthen government restrictions = on greenhouse gas emissions and spend more taxpayer money to develop = alternative sources of fuel and energy. Americans have been widely = supportive of these proposals since Gallup began tracking them as far = back as six years ago. Public support for these proposals dipped = slightly in 2006 but bounced back this year, and grew to a new high = in the case of setting higher restrictions on auto emissions. Gallup finds much less support for expanding the use of nuclear = energy or opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for = oil exploration. The percentages favoring each of the eight proposals tested range = from a high of 86% for spending government money to develop = alternative sources of fuel for automobiles, to a low of 41% for oil = drilling in the Alaskan wilderness. […] Changes in the Last Year Seventy-nine percent of Americans now favor setting higher emission = standards for automobiles, a slightly higher percentage than has been = the case across four other measurements taken since 2001. An even greater shift is seen in the percentage of Americans in favor = of setting higher emissions and pollution standards for business and = industry, rising from 77% in March 2006 to 84% in March 2007. = However, the current level is similar to that found four years ago. Last year’s survey was conducted at a time of rising gas prices, = which may have dampened Americans’ willingness to support = environmental policies presumed to drive fuel costs even higher. Those in favor of spending more government money on developing solar = and wind power grew by a small, but statistically significant, 4 = percentage points over the past year, from 77% to 81%. Similarly, a 4-point increase is seen in the percentage of Americans = saying they are in favor of imposing mandatory controls on carbon = dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases — from 75% in 2006 to = 79% today. (Although this type of control is the cornerstone of the = Kyoto global warming protocol that President George W. Bush opposes, = public support for Kyoto, per se, has not been nearly this high.) Eighty-two percent of Americans now say they favor “more strongly = enforcing environmental regulations.” This is not appreciably higher = than the 79% Gallup recorded in 2006, but is the highest percentage = seen since Gallup began tracking the measure in 2001. There has been no significant change since 2006 in the percentage of = Americans in favor of spending more government money to develop = alternate fuel sources for automobiles — the most widely favored of = all proposals tested. That figure is currently 86%, compared with 85% = in March 2006. Nuclear Power and Arctic Oil Exploration Lose Support Gallup’s 2007 Environment poll documents a 5-point decline in the = percentage of Americans who favor expanding the use of nuclear = energy, and an 8-point decline in support for opening the Alaskan = Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil exploration. As a result, Americans are now closely divided over the nuclear = energy issue (50% in favor and 46% opposed), while a solid majority = of Americans oppose drilling for oil in ANWR (41% in favor, 57% = opposed). Comparing the current views to those of 2006 could overstate the = importance of the changes, as public support for both proposals was = unusually high last year, possibly due to rising gas prices. Current = support levels are on par with where they stood in previous years. Partisan Differences Gallup generally finds the greatest differences among subgroups in = support for the eight environmental proposals according to political = party affiliation. Democrats widely support most of the proposed = government regulations on greenhouse emissions as well as increased = government spending to develop alternative energy sources. A majority = of Republicans also support these proposals, just not to as great an = extent. The greatest partisan differences relate to the expansion of nuclear = power and opening ANWR to oil exploration. A majority of Republicans = favor these proposals, while a majority of Democrats oppose them. Men and women are similar in their views about government spending on = alternative energy and capping greenhouse gases, but they differ = fairly sharply when it comes to expanding nuclear energy and drilling = in ANWR; men are more supportive than women of both proposals. Survey Methods Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,009 national adults, = aged 18 and older, conducted Mar. 11-14, 2007. For results based on = the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence = that the maximum margin of sampling error is =B13 percentage points. In = addition to sampling error, question wording and practical = difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into = the findings of public opinion polls.