Polls: Two-Thirds Support Keystone XL Pipeline

Two-thirds of Americans believe that President Obama should approve the Keystone XL pipeline, according to a survey released yesterday.

The survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, polling 1,501 adults from Feb. 8-12, found that 63 percent had heard about the pipeline project. Of those, 66 percent said it should be approved, 23 percent said it shouldn’t, and 11 percent didn’t know.

A Qunnipiac survey this week found that voters support Keystone 64 percent to 23 percent. Support is 89-7 percent among Republicans, 63-24 percent among independent voters and 43-38 percent among Democrats.

The office of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) seized on the polls as proof that, with gas prices rising, “Americans’ support for the Keystone pipeline is as strong as ever.”

Obama gave an energy address yesterday in which he didn’t mention Keystone and accused Republicans of “licking their chops” at soaring gas prices, while admitting his administration has no “silver bullet” to ease pain at the pump.

Also in the Pew survey, 37 percent now approve of Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill, 41 percent disapprove, and 23 percent had no opinion.

The president constant messaging about the auto bailouts seems to have paid off, with 56 percent saying that the government rescue was mostly good for the economy. That’s up 19 points from three years ago.