(Photo of offshore drilling in Galveston from Flickr and photographer absolutwade/Beau Wade)
News Update 1: Two new polls are discouraging. They show growing numbers of voters favoring oil exploration in the U.S. and offshore. In Florida, specifically, a Rasmussen polls shows 59% of voters favoring offshore drilling. Breaking it out by party, 83% of Republicans, 38% of Dems and 54% of Independent are OK with offshore drilling in Florida, a substantial change since 2004. The same poll showed John McCain, who favors offshore drilling, leading Barack Obama, who doesn’t, 48-41. In a Pew Research national poll, 47% of the population wants to expand domestic drilling and open new power plants, compared with just 35% 5 months ago. There was a 10-point drop in those seeing conservation as the most important step on energy. Liberals’ favorables for oil exploration doubled from 22% to 45%. Half the people survey agreed with drilling in ANWR. The price at the pump trumps all. (Source: Greenwire)
