Rasmussen: Vast Majority Back Boost in US Oil, Gas Production

A full 70% of likely voters believe the U.S. government should encourage increased oil and gas production to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign sources, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Monday.

Only 18% oppose a policy of encouraging American energy independence, while 12% are not sure.

Other results from the survey:

• Among Republicans, 87% believe the U.S. government should encourage increased oil and gas production to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign sources; 70% of unaffiliated voters agree with that, as do 55% of Democrats.
• Half — 52% — think the energy policy of President Joe Biden’s administration is worse than that of former President Donald Trump, while 33% believe Biden’s energy policy is better, and 11% say the policy of the two administrations is about the same.
• Although 59% of Democratic voters think Biden’s energy policy is better than Trump’s, 78% of Republicans and 56% of unaffiliated voters say the Biden administration’s policy is worse.
• More males (56%) than females (48%) among voters say Biden’s energy policy is worse than Trump’s.
• Majorities in every racial category (74% of whites, 55% of blacks and 67% of other minorities) believe the U.S. government should encourage increased oil and gas production to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign sources.
• Energy policy will be important in this year’s congressional elections, according to 88% of voters, with 60% saying it will be very important.
• More Republicans (71%) than unaffiliated voters (60%) or Democrats (51%) believe energy policy will be very important in this year’s midterm elections.
• Among voters who say the Biden administration’s energy policy is worse than Trump’s, 76% say energy policy will be a very important issue in this year’s elections.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. likely voters was conducted on March 3 and 6. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

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