Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill is washing up by the millions of gallons on Louisiana’s beaches and environmentally fragile marshlands, but that doesn’t prevent more than three-quarters of Bayou State residents from supporting continuing off-shore oil and natural gas drilling.
Pollster Scott Rasmussen’s latest telephone survey of 500 likely voters found that 79 percent support continued drilling, while only 15 percent think it should be stopped.
Asked specifically about deepwater projects such as that by BP that led to the April explosion and subsequent oil spill that continues today, 72 percent of Rasmussen’s respondents still support drilling, with the opposition figure rising only to 19 percent.
“Support for offshore drilling in a state that is heavily dependent on the oil industry is perhaps not surprising given that just 11% of Louisiana voters characterized the economy as good or excellent in April, while 42% rated it as poor. Voters were evenly divided at the time whether the economy was getting better or worse,” Rasmussen said.
Nationally, 60 percent of respondents support continued off-shore drilling, according to the pollster.
Even with the strong support for continued drilling, Louisianans also appear to have no illusions about the devastating impact of the spill on their state’s environment and economy, as 77 percent see “major long-term impact on the environment.” Surprisingly, 18 percent of respondents expect “modest” impact.
As for who should get the bill for the cleanup, “74% say the companies who were drilling for oil on the accident site – BP and Transocean – should pay for the cleanup. Just three percent (3%) say the government should be responsible for the cleanup costs, and another 21% say the companies and the government should cover the costs jointly,” according to Rasmussen.
You can read the entire survey here.
