?Higher energy prices are pushing more Americans to support drilling in areas that had previously been protected and declared off -limits.


The poll released by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows nearly half of those surveyed—or 47%—now rate energy exploration, drilling and building new power plants as the top priority, compared with 35% who believed that five months ago.


“This shows the real impact of higher gas prices on the public,” says Carroll Doherty, associate director for the Pew Research Center, which commissioned the telephone survey of 2,004 adults from June 18 to June 29. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5%, slightly larger for subgroups.


Doherty says that public support for greater energy exploration is spiking. Compared with just a few months ago, many more Americans are giving higher priority to more energy exploration, rather than more conservation. An increasing proportion also says that developing new sources of energy—rather than protecting the environment—is the more important national priority.


The survey also finds that half of Americans now support drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, up from 42% in February.


The public’s changing energy priorities are most evident in the growing percentage that views increased energy exploration—including mining and drilling, as well as the construction of new power plants—as a more important priority for energy policy than increased conservation and regulation. Nearly half (47%) now rate energy exploration as the more important priority, up from 35% in February. The proportion saying it is more important to increase energy conservation and regulation has declined by 10 points (from 55% to 45%).

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