66% say benefits of oil, gas extraction outweigh the risks

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Two-thirds of Americans say the benefits of exploration for natural gas and oil outweigh the risks, according to results from a Harris Interactive poll.

About 17 percent of the 2,056 adults surveyed online between Feb. 6 and 13 say the risks outweigh any benefits.

Another 17 percent responded “not sure.”

Most gas-and-oil extraction is accomplished by fracking, a process in which water, chemicals and sand are blasted into rocks thousands of feet below the ground.

Three in four Republicans believe benefits of natural-gas exploration outweigh the risks; three in five Democrats feel the same way.

Twenty-one percent of Democrats believe risks outweigh the benefits; only 10 percent of Republicans agreed.

Eighty-four percent of those age 67 and older put benefits ahead of risks. Fifty-three percent of those between age 18 and 35 feel the same way.

The 66 percent of Americans who believe the benefits of natural gas outweigh the risks is the same percentage from a 2009 study.

Those who thought the risks outweighed the benefits increased from 14 percent to 17 percent since that study.

The least-favorable energy source was biomass, which is an organic matter that can be used to make fuels, chemicals and other products as well as provide heat or electricity.

Thirty percent of respondents said the benefits of biomass outweigh the risks. Solar (79 percent) and wind (76 percent) garnered the highest percentages of favorable responses.