Over half (57 percent) of Americans support oil drilling off the U.S. coast and in wilderness areas, according to this Gallup poll.
The same poll found that 53 percent of respondents favor imposing price controls, but majorities oppose rationing gasoline, re-instituting the 55-mph speed limit, and suspending the federal gas tax this summer.
On the question of who Americans blame for high gas prices, the article has this to say:
Ironically, the intensity with which Americans see oil companies as “gas price villains” may be fading a little, according to opinions respondents volunteered in a new Gallup Poll, conducted May 19-21.
Over the past year, the percentage of Americans blaming the oil companies for skyrocketing gas prices fell from 34% to 20%; the percentage pointing to oil refinery problems fell from 16% to 9%; and those attributing the increase in prices to problems in the Middle East and the Iraq war fell from 13% to 8%.
On the other hand, the percentage of Americans suggesting prices are increasing as a result of the economic forces of supply and demand increased from 10% to 15%, while 6% now point to speculators and 4% to the shrinking value of the dollar and the poor U.S. economy — both new reasons not even mentioned a year ago. More Americans also mention crude oil prices, the shortage of oil supplies, and U.S. dependency on foreign oil.
