Posted Jun 09, 2010 at 9:35 AM by Maurice Berger
A new Political
Insiders Poll reports that among political/Washington insiders, President Obama is fairing poorly in his response
to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill: Democrats give him an average
grade of C-; Republicans an average grade
of D-. The problem may extend well beyond the political class to the electorate at large, as a number of polls measuring the president approval rating this week have shown a discernible decline this week.
Tagged: 2010, presidential approval ratings, President Barack Obama, environment, oil spill
Posted Mar 20, 2009 at 9:37 AM by Maurice Berger
According to Gallup, for the first time in the polling organization's 25-year history of asking Americans
about the "trade-off between environmental protection and economic
growth, a majority of Americans say economic growth should be given the
priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent. Gallup first asked Americans about this trade-off in 1984, at which
time over 60% chose the environmental option. Support for the
environment was particularly high in 1990-1991, and in the late 1990s
and 2000, when the dot-com boom perhaps made economic growth more of a
foregone conclusion. The percentage of Americans choosing the environment slipped below
50% in 2003 and 2004, but was still higher than the percentage choosing
the economy. Sentiments have moved up and down over the last several
years, but this year, the percentage of Americans choosing the
environment fell all the way to 42%, while the percentage choosing the
economy jumped to 51%." No doubt, the reason for this shift in American sentiment on the ecology almost certainly has to do
with the current economic recession. As nearly all recent
Gallup surveys suggest, the economy is foremost in Americans' minds.
Tagged: economic crisis, economy, environment, ecology
