VIA: The CNN/Opinion Research survey found that seventy-three per cent of
Americans back increased offshore drilling—although President Bush
recently lifted an executive moratorium on drilling in most coastal
waters, a congressionally imposed moratorium remains in place—while a
recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey showed sixty-nine per
cent in favor of allowing drilling on currently protected federal
lands. (Twelve per cent supported such a move even if it caused damage
to “environmentally important areas.”)