page_title: Energy policy of the United States
section_title: Public opinion
hierarchical_section_title: Energy policy of the United States / Public opinion
caption_attribution_description: English: Ms. magazine, Summer 2006
context_page_description: The energy policy of the United States is determined by federal, state, and local entities in the United States, which address issues of energy production, distribution, and consumption, such as building codes and gas mileage standards. Energy policy may include legislation, international treaties, subsidies and incentives to investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy techniques.
  Several mandates have been proposed over the years, such as gasoline will never exceed $1.00/gallon, and the United States will never again import as much oil as it did in 1977, but no comprehensive long-term energy policy has been proposed, although there has been concern over this failure. Three Energy Policy Acts have been passed, in 1992, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009 which include many provisions for conservation, such as the Energy Star program, and energy development, with grants and tax incentives for both renewable energy and non-renewable energy.
context_section_description: The U.S. results from the 1st Annual World Environment Review, published on June 5, 2007 revealed that:
  74% are concerned about climate change.
  80% think their Government should do more to tackle global warming.
  84% think that the US is too dependent on fossil fuels.
  72% think that the US is too reliant on foreign oil.
  79% think that the US Government should do more to increase the number of hybrid cars that are sold.
  67% think that the US Government should allow more off shore drilling.
  The public is also quite clear on its priorities when it comes to promoting energy conservation versus increasing the supply of oil, coal, and natural gas. When asked which of these should be the higher priority, the public chooses energy conservation by a very wide 68 percent-to-21 percent margin. The public also predominantly believes that the need to cut down on energy consumption and protect the environment means increased energy efficiency should be mandated for certain products. Ninety-two percent of Americans now support such requirements.
  However, when energy policy and climate change are compared to other issues, they are rated extremely low in terms of importance. A Pew Research Center poll on public priorities for 2011 found that global warming ranked last of twenty-two possible policy priorities. The same survey in 2012 found similar results.
  Gallup found that from 2009 through the latest poll in March 2013, public opinion has been nearly evenly split on whether to give priority to the environment or to developing energy sources such as oil, gas, and coal. This represents a shift from poll results from 2001 through 2008, when clear pluralities of Americans wanted environmental concerns to take priority over developing fossil fuel resources. However, public opinion still heavily favors an emphasis on wind and solar energy (59 percent) over fossil fuels (31 percent).
caption: The summer 2006 issue of Ms. magazine examined how the oil industry impacts women's lives
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