Has Support For Fracking Really Decreased? Maybe Not.
According to a new poll out by Pew of 1,353 Americans, support for the increased use of fracking has declined over the past year with 41% of Americans in favor of the practice and 47% opposed.
According to a new poll out by Pew of 1,353 Americans, support for the increased use of fracking has declined over the past year with 41% of Americans in favor of the practice and 47% opposed. But wait just one second...
Is it really fair to assess support for fracking given over half of Americans still aren't even familiar with what the terms 'fracking' or 'hydraulic fracturing' mean?
According to the latest wave of the UT Energy Poll among 2,105 Americans, only 44% are familiar with these terms, while 47% are not familiar or have never heard of them. (The additional 9% say they are neither familiar nor unfamiliar).
Among the 44% of Americans familiar with fracking, (928/2,105) we found 44% support its use in the extraction of fossil fuels and 41% oppose it. This is UP from one year ago when 38% of those familiar with fracking supported its use.
There's more to the story.
So what do the Pew new numbers really tell us?
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Sheril Kirshenbaum
Sheril Kirshenbaum is executive director of Science Debate, a nonpartisan org working to get presidential candidates on record on science policy. She co-directs Michigan State University's Food Literacy and Engagement Poll and hosts the NPR podcast Serving Up Science.
