Winning the Oil Drilling Debate

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



Winning the Oil Drilling Debate
By Isaiah J. Poole

July 17th, 2008 - 7:17am ET


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Earlier this week, MoveOn's Tom Matzzie raised the alarm about the success the alliance of conservatives and Big Oil has had in convincing voters that massive amounts of new drilling for oil is essential to solve our energy crisis. And he was right to.

As he pointed out:

In February, Pew asked the public in a poll whether they favor drilling in the Arctic refuge. At that time 42 percent favored and 50 percent opposed. Now, in July, 50 percent favor drilling and only 43 percent oppose. That's a 12-point change since the February survey and a 28-point swing since a March 2002 Gallup poll (where 35 percent favored and 56 percent opposed).

The shift is something to be concerned about — progressives are losing ground with the public on drilling. These are alarming gains in sympathy for the plans of Big Oil.

The facts are on the side of progressives, but conservatives have seized the initiative on framing the issue as one of increasing the supply of American oil to lower prices—even though the government's own data concludes that drilling in places such as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve would have negligible impact on prices, and we wouldn't see that impact until well past 2020. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/winning-oil-drilling-debate

[taterguy]

1. The other side won the argument a long time ago

People are addicted to their cars.

Addicts will do almost anything to get their fix.