by Jed Lewison
This is an amazing statistic from Quinnipiac's most recent poll of Florida: In the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Florida voters oppose 51 - 42 percent increasing the amount of offshore oil drilling, a 48-point swing from the 66 - 27 percent support for drilling in an April 19 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. That means one out of four voters in Florida has changed their mind about offshore drilling in less than two months. Numbers like that are staggering. They provide evidence for the idea that voters are now as receptive as they have ever been to the kinds of policies that we need to break our dependence on fossil fuels. It underscores the urgency with which Democrats and the Obama Administration must proceed enacting energy reform. There has never been a better time to pass legislation that will free us from our oil addiction. President Obama began making this case last week at Carnegie Mellon. He should continue to do so. The best way for him to demonstrate that he's on the side of the public and not big oil is to finally convince Congress to pass legislation that will give the public independence from big oil. We know it won't be perfect legislation, and we won't eliminate fossil fuels overnight, but the single most important factor in securing America's future prosperity and quality of life is developing new, clean, affordable sources of energy. And the time to establish the national framework for achieving that goal is now.
continued at Daily Kos....
