Originally published on the CGS blog on February 5, 2008.
Now that I’m done gloating (for now) about the New York Giants Super Bowl triumph, I can pay more attention to important things like our country’s energy choices. My friend and former colleague Heather Hamilton reports back from a forum that confirms what we’ve been discussing here for a while:
U.S. in the World research for a meta-analysis of polls and focus groups on climate change has found that the argument that the U.S. needs to reduce its dependence on foreign or Middle Eastern oil to protect national security actually increases public support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other non-renewable, domestic energy sources like coal and nuclear energy.
Unfortunately, while talk of “ending dependence on foreign oil” leads to losing policies, for now, it also leads to winning politics. For the time being, most voters think energy independence is important and achievable and candidates are unfortunately all too willing to indulge them.
