Offshore Drilling Most Popular Among Republicans, Elderly, White and Wealthy (Economist Poll Data)

As you can see, the decision to increase offshore drilling for oil and gas is most popular among Republicans, people who are 65 and older, whites and males. It is least popular among Democrats, people under 30, Latinos, African Americans and females. Aside from political identification, this decision seems to appeal most to a similar demographic to that of the current United States Senate. Consider the Demographics of the Senate:

* 83% male
* 97% white
* About 50% over the age of 65 and 90% over the age of 55

Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the obvious here. The segment of the American population that truly stands to benefit from Obama’s foolish decision on offshore drilling is quite small: a handful of multinational oil and gas companies. These companies are among the most profitable in the world, and they spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually lobbying in order to hold policymakers hostage. Judging by Obama’s decision on offshore drilling, they seem to be getting their money’s worth.

The full results of the Economist/YouGov poll are below.