Articles

Fuel economy gains momentum in Washington

Public Agenda Alert
March 22, 2007

The question of raising fuel economy standards seemed to gain momentum this week in Washington, with President Bush touring auto plants to promote his plan to cut gasoline use and former Vice President Al Gore calling on Congress to act on global warming.

Our Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index has found that, for the public, energy is being redefined as a national security issue as much if not more than a pocketbook issue. The public ranks energy independence second only to better intelligence gathering as a security strategy.

The public thinks this would be both effective and practical, with 51 percent saying in our September survey that the government can do "a lot" to reduce dependence on foreign energy. Another 36 percent say the government can do at least "something" about this, and almost no one says it's beyond the government's control.

Yet the government gets dismal grades from the public here, with 48 percent who say the United States deserves a "D" or "F" for its efforts on energy dependence.

We also find it highly significant that this continued to be a priority for the public, even though its specific concern about the price and supply of oil fell last year.

Read more about the public's views on energy independence:
http://www.publicagenda.org/foreignpolicy
/foreignpolicy_energy.htm

Read The Washington Post story about the changing debate in Congress:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03
/20/AR2007032001609.html

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