Most Americans support increasing U.S. natural gas production in order to export more of the fossil fuel to gas-starved Europe, a new poll from the Pew Research Center showed on Thursday.
According to a recent poll, 61% of Americans said they would be in favor of such a fossil fuel expansion for the purposes of exporting large amounts of natural gas to European countries. This is in contrast to 37% of respondents who said they would oppose such an expansion.
In the poll, 70% of Republicans or those who lean Republican said they would support natural gas expansion in the United States, while a smaller percentage-55%, of Democrats or those who lean Democrats would support an expansion.
For those who would oppose the expansion, Republicans or those who lean Republican made up 29%, while Democrats or those who lean Democrat made up 43%.
The survey was conducted between May 2 and May 8.
The poll also showed that 67% feel that the impact on natural gas prices in the U.S. should be a major consideration when deciding whether to export it to Europe. This was higher than the 51% that felt that the impact on climate change should be a major consideration when determining nat gas exports to Europe.
While the survey showed that the majority of Americans support increased natural gas production to export it to Europe, it also showed that 67% of U.S. adults continue to say developing alternative energy sources-including solar and wind-should be a more important priority for addressing America's energy supply, Pew said. Only 32% said that the more important priority should be expanding the production of oil, gas, and coal.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More