Comments on: Note to media: Please ignore biased Rasmussen polling on offshore oil drilling

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:38:23 +0000

I always find it funny when a poll asks an “opinion” question like “If offshore oil is allowed, how likely is it that the price of gas will go down?”. All discussion of how the poll was conducted aside, how is this even an opinion? An agency (like the EIA) can conduct a study and come up with a fact-based answer to the question. With some questions in life, there is a right and wrong answer. Not everything is an opinion.

To be fair, a range of conclusions could be drawn by various parties as to the effect of off-shore drilling on gas prices. To amend what I said above, there is a range of right answers and a range of wrong answers.

But that is not what is going on here. Instead, this poll (like so many others) basically suggests that because you are being asked to answer this opinion question with no previous knowledge of the issue, somehow any answer is feasible or even likely. Implicit in the poll is that the answer “extreme reduction in price” is equal to (and equally possible as) “no effect”. That is just false, and polls like these which suggest otherwise are part of the reason we have such a large amount of “truthiness” in politics today.

By: Donald B

Donald B — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:53:45 +0000

The problem seems to be a disconnect between what the truth is and what people think; there is a legitimate need to find out what the people think, right or wrong. Then it can be determined how much of an education campaign is necessary to educate the public. However, this kind of “push poll” distorts what the public really does think, and when its conclusions get published, confirms a likely false “truth.”

By: Eoin

Eoin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:24:18 +0000

Funny. Just one day before they published those poll results, Rasmussen published another survey showing that a minority of Americans oppose nationalizing America’s oil industry.

http://rasmussenreports.com/ public_content/ business/ general_business/ just_47_oppose_nationalizing_oil_industry

By: ray liontos

ray liontos — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:43:59 +0000

I work on a drilling rig for a living. I invite anyone who has questions about the environmental impact of drilling to come visit a drilling rig during operation and come back 6 months after completion. We have such strict guidelines concerning environmental impact it is a surprise we can drill at all. we have to leave it the way we found it.

BTW…I drive a ford escape hybrid to the rigsite

By: PurpleOzone

PurpleOzone — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:16:24 +0000

I received this poll 3 weeks ago, by the Harris Research. After the 2cd question I asked the pollster “I take it there isn’t going to be a question about global warming”. The questions were phrased in such a slanted way anyone over 10 years would have known it was funded by an oil company or consortium.
I deduced a drilling push was coming. I’m unsurprised to hear some of the questions quoted by Bush, Cheny, McCain. I can almost see the strings being pulling their arms, legs and mouth from above. For instance, “Katrina and Rita didn’t cause any leaks so drilling in the Gulf of Mexico” was one of the questions asked in my poll and quoted by McCain.
The poll was too long to be a push poll, but it was horribly slanted. I think it was testing talking points, so they could find the ones most agreed with and program their politicians to repeat them.

By: tg

tg — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:30:01 +0000

This poll isn’t slanted any more than the ones for Bush Duh!!!

By: shane zimmerman

shane zimmerman — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:35:10 +0000

Offshore drilling is just stupid! The government should be using the tax dollars make from gas for the advancement of alternative fuels,renewable fuels, and get off the oil bandwagon. How can u build an economy on something that will not be around for long? 60-100 years speaking

By: Shooter3

Shooter3 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:31:22 +0000

Don’t you guys know ANYTHING about economics? That question; “Will drilling offshore reduce the price of gasoline?” is valid. It presupposes that the questionee understands “supply and demand”.

And whether it’s getting warmer or colder, it’s not something man can alter. God put many regulating mechanism into our planet. Give it up! Your tilting at windmills!