Tougher Fracking Regulations Backed by 66%, Poll Shows

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-14/tougher-fracking-regulations-backed-by-66-poll-shows.html

Support for regulation of hydraulic fracturing has increased in the past three months, a sign that the gas-drilling practice is facing greater public scrutiny.

A Bloomberg National Poll found that 66 percent of Americans want more government oversight of the process, known as fracking, in which water, chemicals and sand are shot underground to free gas trapped in rock. That’s an increase from 56 percent in a September poll. The poll found 18 percent favored less regulation, down from 29 percent three months ago.

“More people are aware of fracking, and they are a little bit more opposed to it,” Sheril Kirshenbaum, director of the University of Texas Energy Poll, said in an interview. The school’s polls also have asked questions on the topic, and “it’s becoming more familiar,” she said.

The Dec. 7-10 Bloomberg poll of 1,000 adults was conducted by Des Moines, Iowa-based Selzer & Co.