Preliminary results of an IBD/TIPP Poll of 795 U.S. adults, taken from April 30 to May 5, show that a large majority — 59% — approve of “oil exploration and drilling in America’s national territorial waters.” Just 31% said they disapprove.

IBD Editorials

Energy: After BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, federal and state governments moved quickly to shelve plans to drill off the U.S. coast. But a new poll taken after the spill suggests Americans still support drilling.

Preliminary results of an IBD/TIPP Poll of 795 U.S. adults, taken from April 30 to May 5, show that a large majority — 59% — approve of “oil exploration and drilling in America’s national territorial waters.” Just 31% said they disapprove.

Interestingly, the share who approve of offshore drilling has fallen only a bit since the last time we polled Americans on this topic in July 2008. Back then, 64% supported offshore drilling — while 25% disapproved — for a swing of just five percentage points.

Why do people still support drilling? The oil spill notwithstanding, Americans are tired of $85 a barrel oil and understand that the panaceas for our energy ills peddled by the green movement and the left — wind, solar, biomass — are still years off, if ever, from being economically viable.

The cold reality is we need oil. A retreat from drilling would be economically unwise. BP’s mess must be put into perspective.

“We get more than a fifth of our domestic production of oil here in the U.S. from off the Gulf Coast, over a million barrels a day,” says the American Enterprise Institute’s Steve Hayward. “If we don’t continue that … we’ll be importing more oil to make up for it, even if consumption stays flat.”

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