There’s a lot to be said about how gas prices are causing trouble for everyday Americans. It’s not just at the pump where Americans feel the pain because the Biden administration refuses to drill for domestic oil; those policies also play out on store shelves.
High diesel prices and looming shortages exacerbate supply chain issues at every level from transportation to farming, and the higher prices we’re paying for food and other items reflect these issues.
A new poll from Tippinsights in association with Issues & Insights shows that voters have something to say about it:
In the poll, we asked 1,359 adults the following question: “What should government do to alleviate the diesel shortage?” The online I&I/TIPP Poll, taken from Nov. 2-4, has a margin of error of +/-2.8 percentage points.
Respondents were given, in order, the following possible responses. Responses 1 to 4 were randomized to avoid any order bias:
- “Encourage more drilling and refining of oil.”
- “Keep imposing strict limits on carbon-based fuels to reduce climate change.”
- “Return to the rules and standards for energy production that prevailed in 2020.”
- “Tax oil companies if they don’t produce more oil.”
- “Do nothing.”
- “Not sure.”
The top two responses are revealing. Thirty-nine percent of voters surveyed preferred encouraging more drilling, while another 36% want to see a return to the energy-production standards that predate the Biden administration.
A quarter of those surveyed want to tax oil companies that don’t produce more oil — a response that reveals either ignorance or wishful thinking — and 22% want to continue a green agenda. It’s telling that an equal percentage of people say they’re not sure. Only three percent believe that doing nothing is the best strategy.
Related: The U.S. Approves Oil Production, but You Won’t Believe Where
The differences in answers by political party are telling. A majority of Republicans surveyed prefer drilling and refining (55%) and returning to fewer regulations and restrictions on energy production (51%). Independents give these options an edge as well, at 35% and 33%, respectively.
Overall, Democrats responded fairly evenly to all the options, but a plurality of them favored the policies that Tippinsights refers to as “more restrictive and punitive in nature,” with 36% preferring taxing oil companies as their favorite option and 32% opting for the climate change agenda.
Tippinsights argues that the strong response in favor of increasing American energy production, whether through more drilling or lowering restrictions, proves that the issue isn’t a political one but an economic one.
“The answer transcends both politics and the short-term horizon of the holiday season,” writes Tippinsights’ Terry Jones. “Indeed, the U.S. is already suffering slowing demand due to surging inflation for food, manufactured goods and, especially, energy.”
The strain of inflation is powerful, as another survey showing that 81% of parents said they planned on spending less for Christmas this year proves. The fuel crisis could rear its ugly head even higher going into the winter. Snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is already at a 56-year high this year — which isn’t hard to see as somewhat ironic since the “climate change” narrative seeks to fight rising temperatures — meaning that more people are likely to feel the crunch of rising energy prices.
The bottom line is that voters want their leaders to do something about rising fuel prices and their ripple effects, and if this poll is any indication, more voters want to go back to the way things were before the Biden administration made energy less plentiful and more expensive. It’s just too bad that the White House won’t listen to the people.
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