Civitas Poll: Support for Offshore Drilling Increases among Unaffiliated Voters

Raleigh, N.C. – Sixty percent of unaffiliated voters in North Carolina support offshore drilling, according to a new poll released by the Civitas Institute.

According to the live caller poll of 400 unaffiliated general election voters, 60 percent said they support drilling for oil and natural gas off the coast of North Carolina.  Thirty-two percent said they oppose it and eight percent said they do not know or have no opinion.

This is nine percent increase in support since an August 2010 Civitas poll when unaffiliated voters supported offshore drilling by 51 percent – 38 percent margin.

“With jobs in short supply and the cost of gasoline going up, unaffiliated voters have increased their support of a policy that they feel will address both of these issues,” said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca.

Looking at support by region, voters in the Southeast most support drilling for oil off the state’s coast (75 percent support – 19 percent oppose) along with 61 percent of those in the Northeast and Triangle area (60 percent).

“Voters who will most be affected and stand to benefit the most from new jobs created are strongly in support of offshore drilling,” added De Luca.

The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina.  For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

Full Text of Question:

“Do you support or oppose drilling for oil and natural gas off the coast of North Carolina?”

Total Support – 60%

Total Oppose – 32%
Strongly Support – 32%

Somewhat Support – 29%

Somewhat Oppose – 13%

Strongly Oppose – 19%

Don’t Know/No Opinion – 8%

Click here for full results and crosstabs.

This poll of 400 unaffiliated general election voters in North Carolina was conducted August 15-16 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ.  All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of unaffiliated voters in North Carolina.  For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past three general elections (2006, 2008, 2010) or be newly registered to vote since November 2, 2010.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 400 interviews (registered voters) will be within +/-4.9% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every unaffiliated voter in North Carolina who had voted in at least one of the past three general elections or is newly registered since November 2, 2010.

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