http://www.abc-7.com/global/story.asp?S=12445470&clienttype=generic&mobilecgbypass
Florida voters re-think offshore oil drilling
In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida voters have reversed their view on drilling off of the state’s coast, according to new poll released by Mason-Dixon.
Statewide, only 35% currently support offshore drilling, while a 55% majority are now opposed to it.
That is in stark contrast to a poll conducted 11 months ago, where 55% of the state’s voters were in favor of offshore drilling and only 31% were opposed.
Support for drilling peaked at 61% in August 2008, amid the soaring price of gasoline nationwide and rising concerns about energy independence.
OFFSHORE DRILLING SUPPORT SupportOpposeUnd.August 200861%32%7%April 200959%28%13%June 200955%31%14%May 201035%55%10%
Mason-Dixon analyst Brad Coker notes opposition is now widespread, with strong majorities opposed in four of the state’s five major regions. A small plurality in North Florida (47%) is still in favor of drilling, but opposition is between 54% and 60% in the rest of the state.
Coker says Republicans are now the only group to still favor drilling (57%), but even that support has dropped significantly. In June 2009, 80% of GOP voters backed it, but that support has now declined by 23-points. Additionally, support among Democrats has dropped from 36% to 19% and independents who favor it slid from 51% to 27%.
HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED
This poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. of Washington, D.C. from May 3 through May 5, 2010. A total of 625 registered voters were interviewed statewide by telephone. All stated they vote regularly in state elections.
Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized and quotas were assigned to reflect voter turn-out by county.
The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4 percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or party grouping.
special thanks to Richard Charter