---
title: "More Americans oppose than favor increased offshore drilling"
description: "More Americans now oppose than favor allowing more offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters. Americans who live close to a coastline are less supportive of expanding offshore drilling than those who live farther from a coast."
date: "2018-01-30"
authors:
  - name: "Bradley Jones"
    job_title: "Former Senior Researcher"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/bradley-jones/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/01/30/more-americans-oppose-than-favor-increased-offshore-drilling/"
categories:
  - "Climate, Energy & Environment"
  - "Energy"
---

# More Americans oppose than favor increased offshore drilling

[![Majorities in urban and rural areas feel their communities are looked down on by people in other types of communities](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/05/FT_18.05.21_communities_takeaways_majorities-feel-looked-down-on.png?w=257)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/05/FT_18.05.21_communities_takeaways_majorities-feel-looked-down-on.png)

[![Shell's Perdido offshore drilling and production platform in the Gulf of Mexico southwest of Houston. (Gary Tramontina/Corbis via Getty Images)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/FT_18.01.26_drilling_feature.jpg)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/01/30/more-americans-oppose-than-favor-increased-offshore-drilling/gulf-of-mexico-offshore-drilling/)
*Shell’s Perdido offshore drilling and production platform in the Gulf of Mexico southwest of Houston. (Gary Tramontina/Corbis via Getty Images)*

More Americans now oppose (51%) than favor (42%) allowing more offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in mid-January. The share of Americans who favor expanded offshore oil and gas drilling has declined 10 percentage points [since 2014](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/01/29/chapter-3-attitudes-and-beliefs-on-science-and-technology-topics/#energy-issues).

![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/FT_18.01.26_drilling_partisan-diff.png)

Attitudes about expanded offshore oil and gas drilling are divided by age and party, as well as by where people live. People who live within 25 miles of a coastline are less supportive of offshore drilling than are those who live farther from a coast.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are overwhelmingly in favor of expanding offshore drilling for oil and gas. Seven-in-ten say they favor allowing more drilling, and only a quarter say they oppose it, according to the survey of 1,503 adults conducted Jan. 10-15.

Democrats and Democratic leaners show the opposite pattern. Only 22% of Democrats favor allowing more offshore drilling and 71% oppose it. Among Democrats, whites are stronger in their opposition than blacks and Hispanics (77% of white Democrats oppose expanded drilling, compared with 57% of black Democrats and 65% of Hispanic Democrats).

![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/FT_18.01.26_drilling_table.png)

Regardless of partisan affiliation, younger people are more opposed to offshore drilling than are older people. About six-in-ten (58%) of those ages 18 to 49 oppose allowing more drilling off the nation’s coasts – 16 percentage points more than those 50 or older (42%).

![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/FT_18.01.26_drilling_distance.png)

Overall, Americans who live close to a coastline are less supportive of expanding offshore drilling than those who live farther from a coast. Only about a third (34%) of those who live within 25 miles of a coastline favor allowing more offshore oil and gas drilling, while 56% are opposed. Opinion is more divided among those who live more inland: Among Americans who live 300 or more miles from a coast, 46% favor expanded drilling, while 50% oppose it.

These attitudinal differences reflect differences in the partisan composition of those who live nearer and farther from a coast. Among those who live within 25 miles of a coastline, Democrats and Democratic leaners outnumber Republicans and Republican leaners by nearly two-t0-one (59% to 30%). Among Americans who live 300 or more miles from the coast, the partisan balance is about even (45% identify as Republicans or Republican leaners and 46% identify as Democrats or Democratic leaners).

*Note: See full [topline results](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1-29-18-offshore-drilling-topline-for-release.pdf) and methodology [here](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1-29-18-offshore-drilling-methodology.pdf) (PDF).*