The new survey of Louisiana by Public Policy Polling (D) finds that despite the disaster created by the BP oil spill, the state’s voters still overwhelmingly support offshore drilling.
The poll asked: “Do you support or oppose drilling for oil off the shore of Louisiana?” The answer was support 77%, oppose 12%. In addition, only 31% said that the spill made them less supportive of drilling, to 28% who said it made them more supportive, and 42% for whom it made no difference.
“People are always concerned with their economic livelihood,” writes PPP president Dean Debnam. “In Louisiana the economy and jobs are clearly tied to the oil and gas industry. Louisianans seem more concerned about the closure of oil rigs than of beaches.”
The poll also found that one Louisiana politician seems to be doing well: Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has an approval rating of 63%-31% overall approval rating, and a 65%-25% rating on his handling of the spill. By contrast, President Obama’s overall approval rating in Louisiana is only 37%-57%, and on the spill his rating is 32%-62%.
At the same time, though, Louisianans still don’t want Jindal to run for president in 2012 — only 34% say he should, to 55% against it. Republicans favor it by only 50%-35%, Democrats oppose it 23%-73%, and independents are at 28%-55%.
