Sixty-eight percent (68%) of U.S. voters support offshore oil drilling as a way to keep gas prices down, but only 44% are confident that President-elect Barack Obama agrees with them.

Thirty-four percent (34%) say Obama will oppose offshore drilling as president, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Twenty-two percent (22%) aren’t sure. (See Crosstabs)

Just 20% of voters are opposed to offshore drilling, with 12% undecided.

The high level of support for offshore drilling has been consistent since John McCain first proposed renewing it in early June.

The recent drop in gas prices has not changed that support, although a plurality of voters nationwide (45%) now say protecting the environment is more important than reducing the price of gas and oil. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say the latter is more important, a position that prior to falling gas prices was dominant in most parts of the county.

In a survey at the end of October, 39% said it was at least somewhat likely that gasoline will drop below $2 per gallon before the end of the year, but nearly as many (33%) said it will cost over $4 a gallon by then.

Fifty percent (50%) of Republicans and 45% of unaffiliated voters say Obama will favor offshore drilling, compared to 38% of Democrats. Roughly one-third of all three groups think the president-elect will oppose such drilling.

The confusion has risen in part from comments made last week by John Podesta, the head of Obama’s presidential transition team. When McCain pushed the idea of lifting the ban on oil drilling off the coast of the United States, it was a winner on the campaign trail. Obama initially opposed the idea but warmed to it as gas prices rose at the pump.

President Bush subsequently removed the ban on offshore drilling by executive order, and “drill, baby, drill” became a GOP rallying cry during the campaign. But Podesta suggested on Sunday that Obama might reverse some of Bush’s executive orders, raising the possibility that offshore drilling might be among them. Obama’s office has since said that no final decisions have been made in this area.

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Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters rate Obama’s energy positions as good or excellent, while 27% rate them as poor. Female voters give Obama’s views on energy much higher marks than male voters.
Obama continues to score very well in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index.

Eighty percent (80%) of Democrats rate Obama’s energy views as good or excellent, compared to 40% of unaffiliated voters and just 19% of Republicans. Nearly half of GOP voters (48%) and 30% of unaffiliateds say his energy positions are poor.

These findings are no surprise since 90% of Republicans support offshore drilling versus 50% of Democrats. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of unaffiliated voters do, too. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Democrats are opposed to such drilling, compared to 16% of unaffiliated voters and five percent (5%) of Republicans.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of male voters support drilling offshore, as do 62% of women.

Sixty-two percent (62%) say gas prices are at least somewhat likely to go down if such drilling is allowed, but eight percent (8%) say that’s not at all likely to happen.

Voters continue to support positions advocated by both presidential candidates. Fifty-five percent (55%) agree with McCain’s call for building more nuclear plants, while 27% disagree and 18% are undecided.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of men think the country needs more nuclear plants, compared to 42% of women. Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans agree, compared to 42% of Democrats – and 55% of unaffiliated voters.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) support Obama’s call for $150 billion in government spending to develop green energy resources. Twenty-four percent (24%) are opposed, and 18% are undecided.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of men and 54% of women like Obama’s green plan. So do 71% of Democrats and 59% of unaffiliated voters. Republicans are more closely divided: 42% favor the spending to develop green resources, but 36% are opposed.

In a survey in August, 81% said there is an urgent national need to find new sources of energy, and this need is more important that reducing current energy usage.

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