According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll discussed earlier by DemFromCT, nine out of ten Americans support a significant overhaul of U.S. energy policy, with 58 percent supporting "fundamental changes are needed" and an additional 31 percent saying our energy policy needs to be "completely rebuilt."
59 percent of Americans (including 56 percent of Gulf region residents) believe that within 25 years there will be a viable alternative to oil, but most Americans (51 percent) say they are not willing to pay a tax on gas to accomplish that goal. 45 percent say they would pay higher gas taxes, but when asked if they'd pay one dollar per gallon more, support drops to 32 percent. Support drops to 19 percent on a fifty cent tax, suggesting that tax supporters want it to be high.
Obviously, a gas tax isn't the only way to deal with energy policy, but these numbers do provide a window into what types of sacrifices Americans are willing to make. They also suggest that it's incredibly important that the debate over energy policy focus on the benefits of clean, renewable energy.
One of the most interesting findings in the poll was that while a plurality of Americans now oppose increased offshore drilling (49 percent against, 42 percent in favor), they think it's more important to develop new sources of energy (49 percent) than to protect the environment (29 percent). Meanwhile, a majority of Gulf residents support increased drilling (54 percent favor, 36 percent against) but prioritize the environment (48 percent) over developing new energy sources (37 percent).
Put another way, Americans now tend to oppose increased offshore drilling but prioritize new energy sources over the environment. Gulf state residents strongly favor increased offshore drilling, but prioritize the environment over energy.
Confused yet? If not, consider this: 65 percent of Americans think a moratorium on new offshore drilling makes sense even though they prioritize new energy sources over the environment. (30 percent oppose a moratorium.) Meanwhile, among Gulf residents, a plurality (49 percent) oppose the moratorium (47 percent support it).
Perhaps the best explanation for these contradictory opinions is that while the proportion of Americans who say that they or someone in their household works in the oil industry is just 3 percent, the proportion among Gulf residents is 19 percent. Combine that with Bobby Jindal's argument that if it weren't for the Federal government, cleaning up this oil would be easy and you can see how Gulf residents can say they support more drilling and the environment. That isn't a justification of their views, but it's a reasonable explanation, and it again underscores the importance of transitioning to an economy fueled by clean, renewable energy -- making the debate over oil vs. jobs utterly irrelevant.