73% Of Americans Oppose Drilling Ban

Jillian Bandes | July 15, 2010 12:06 PM

A Bloomberg national poll finds that almost three-fourths of Americans think a ban on drilling is unnecessary, calling the tragedy a “freak accident." Obama put another ban in place after a judge ruled against it earlier this month, and almost no one agrees with that decision.

“A ban will destroy the economy in that area over nothing,” said poll respondent Ron Smallcomb, 64, a used-car dealer in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania. “This is crazy. If there’s a plane crash you don’t ground all the airlines and stop flying completely.”

Eighty percent of respondents said BP "shouldn’t be assessed penalties beyond payment for damages, such as being banned from future drilling in the U.S." Bloomberg points out that a House committee approved an amendment yesterday that would prevent BP from acquiring any new offshore leases.