After the BP oil spill, Americans became increasingly wary of offshore drilling. Now, as Japan struggles to deal with an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant, a new Pew poll shows a spike in opposition to nuclear power here in the U.S. — while support for offshore drilling is making a comeback.
The two findings aren’t necessarily related to each other, as support for offshore drilling began rising late last year. But the results suggest that, as was the case with the oil spill, an energy production disaster can quickly turn public opinion against that form of energy production.
Last October, a Pew poll of American adults found the country split evenly at 47% over whether it would be wise to build more nuclear plants. In the latest poll, a 52% majority said building new plants would be a bad idea, while support for new plants dropped to 39%, a 13-point swing in just five months.
Meanwhile, support for offshore drilling has ticked back up.
In February 2010, Pew pegged support for offshore drilling at 61%. That number plummeted to 44% in June, when oil was pouring into the Gulf. Now, in the latest poll, support was back up to 57%.
Support for offshore drilling began to rise as early as last October, as news about the Gulf spill wound down. According to Pew, increased support for offshore drilling is more likely tied to rising gas prices.
The Pew poll was conducted March 17-20 among 1,004 adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of 4.0%.
