WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans still support offshore drilling and believe it is critical to making the U.S. competitive, despite the growing oil spill along the Gulf coast, a new poll showed on Wednesday.
In response to the oil spill, the Obama administration has canceled leasing offshore tracts for drilling that was planned off Virginia and the western Gulf of Mexico, and imposed a six-month moratorium on drilling exploratory and development wells in waters deeper than 500 feet.
In a national survey of 522 adults, on a scale of 0 to 10, the average show of support was 6.3 when asked if the government should allow offshore drilling.