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Surge in Public's View of Energy as Greatest Problem

Surge in Public's View of Energy as Greatest Problem

New Gallup poll shows that one out of five Americans name energy

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The American public now perceives the energy issue to be one of the most problems facing the nation, representing a remarkable surge in the perceived importance of energy concerns in just one month. The latest Gallup poll, conducted May 10-14, shows that 21% of Americans now mention some aspect of energy in response to Gallup's traditional "what is the most important problem facing the nation" question. Just 3% of Americans mentioned energy last month.

More specifically, 12% now spontaneously mention the lack of adequate energy sources as the country's most important problem, and another 9% mention the high cost of fuel, gas and oil. Last month, only 2% mentioned the lack of energy, and only 1% mentioned the high price of gas and other energy.

What else do Americans perceive as the country's most important problem?

  • The general economy -- mentioned by 10%
  • Education -- 9%
  • Ethics/morals/religious/family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity -- 8%
  • Crime and violence -- 7%
  • Unemployment and lack of jobs -- 6%
  • Drugs -- 5%
  • Dissatisfaction with government and Congress and politicians -- 5%

Here are the details:

What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? [Open-ended]

   

May 10-14,
2001

 

Apr 6-8,
2001

 

Mar 5-7,
2001

 

Jan 10-14,
2001

 

Apr 3-9,
2000

             
   

%

%

%

%

%

 

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)

31

33

29

22

--

1

Economy in general

10

15

10

7

4

2

Fuel/Oil Prices

9

1

1

2

4

3

Unemployment/jobs

6

6

4

4

2

4

Taxes

4

4

7

5

3

5

Gap between rich and poor

1

2

1

1

1

6

High cost of living/inflation

1

7

2

1

1

7

Federal budget deficit/federal debt

1

1

2

1

1

8

Wage issues

*

*

1

1

1

9

Trade relations/deficit

*

1

*

*

*

10

Recession

*

--

3

4

*

 

Other specific economic

2

--

1

*

1

             
 

NON-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)

68

69

76

77

--

1

Lack of energy sources

12

2

2

4

*

2

Education

9

10

16

12

11

3

Ethics/moral/religious/family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity

8

9

11

13

7

4

Crime/violence

7

6

8

9

12

5

Drugs

5

6

6

7

5

6

Dissatisfaction with government/ Congress/ politicians/ candidates; Poor leadership; corruption

5

7

5

9

11

7

Poverty/ hunger/ homelessness

4

4

5

4

6

8

Poor healthcare/ hospitals; high cost of healthcare

4

5

7

7

6

9

Children's behavior/ way they are raised

4

6

6

3

3

10

Foreign aid/focus overseas

3

1

1

*

*

11

Environment/ pollution

3

3

2

2

2

12

Medicare/Social Security issues

3

2

4

3

3

13

Situation/Conflict with China

2

7

--

--

--

14

Lack of Money

2

--

--

--

--

15

Race relations/ racism

2

2

2

4

3

16

Guns/gun control

1

1

4

1

5

17

Abortion

1

1

1

1

1

18

Judicial system/courts/laws

1

2

1

1

1

19

Unifying the country

1

*

1

1

--

20

Lack of respect for each other

1

1

1

--

--

21

Lack of military defense

1

1

2

2

1

22

Welfare

1

1

1

2

1

23

Immigration/illegal aliens

1

1

*

2

1

24

International issues/ problems

*

3

4

4

2

25

Overpopulation

*

1

1

1

*

26

Child abuse

*

*

--

1

1

27

Fear of war

*

1

2

*

1

28

Care for the elderly

*

1

1

2

2

29

The media

*

1

1

1

--

30

School shootings/school violence

*

3

5

0

*

31

Election/election reform

*

1

*

2

--

32

National security

*

*

1

--

--

 

Cancer/Diseases

--

1

--

--

--

 

Advancement of computers/technology

--

--

*

0

--

 

AIDS

--

--

--

*

*

 

Other non-economic

6

4

1

3

11

             
 

No opinion

6

7

7

8

5

 

Total

127%

138%

141%

135%

125%

             

Total adds to more than 100% due to multiple responses

         

*Less than 0.5%

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,012 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 10-14, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/3139/Surge-Publics-View-Energy-Greatest-Problem.aspx
Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A
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