Sixty percent of Americans support increasing oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal areas, according to a Gallup poll conducted March 3 to 6. That’s up 10 percent from a poll conducted in May 2010.
The increased support may be a result of recent unrest in the Middle East, which has . The 2010 poll was conducted about a month after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the Gulf shore.
Since 2002, there’s been a steady increase in support of drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wilderness Reserve, according to Gallup. Forty-nine percent of those surveyed supported drilling in Alaska, versus 38 percent in 2002.
Men and people over 55 years old were the most supportive of more offshore drilling, according to the survey. People living in the South favored drilling more than other regions. Eighty-three percent of Republicans, 60 percent of Independents and 40 percent of Democrats supported more drilling, said Gallup.
Results are part of an annual Gallup poll on the environment conducted over the phone between March 3 and 6. Click here to see more on poll.
Prices Around the Region
In New City, the Getty on 40 N. Main St. logs the cheapest prices at $3.73 for a gallon of unleaded regular gas, while you’ll pay $3.99 at an Unbranded station at 233 S. Main St.
Bedford has some of the priciest gas in Westchester county. At the Gulf on Pound Ridge Road, a gallon is $3.84. At the Shell on 848 S. Bedford Rd. motorists are hit with a whopping $4.29 a gallon charge.
In Brewster, you’ll pay $3.75 at the Getty on Rte. 22 and a Shell station a bit north on Rte. 22 charges $3.89 a gallon.
Port Chester’s high is $4.05 at a Valero on S. Ridge Street; the low is $3.71 at a Gulf on Midland Avenue.
In Pelham, the Sunoco at 50 Lincoln Ave. charges $3.79 a gallon; you’ll pay $3.99 at both the Getty and the Gulf on Wolf’s Lane.
All gas prices are based on the most recent data from MSN Auto.
