Gas prices - voters' No. 1 concern

The high price of gasoline tops the list of economic concerns held by U.S. consumers, according to a CNN poll.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Kenneth Musante, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The high price of gasoline is voters' top economic concern, according to a poll released Friday.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 35% said price of gasoline was their highest concern. That was followed by availability of good jobs (28%), high taxes (18%) and mortgages or home values (18%).

The poll was taken on Sept. 5-7 and surveyed 1,022 adults. It has a margin of error of three percentage points.

The high price of fuel has sparked a debate in Washington over domestic crude production. A proposal to allow more offshore drilling has drawn fierce opposition in Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday that congressional Democrats would be willing to compromise and allow limited drilling. After months of debate, neither the House nor the Senate has yet produced a comprehensive energy bill.

Issue in the campaign

Gas prices have been taking the top spot in the presidential race as well.

Republican candidate John McCain supports lifting the congressional ban on offshore drilling, as well as further development of nuclear power and development of electric vehicles.

McCain's running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, supports drilling, and gained a reputation for taking a hardline stance against energy company interests after renegotiating a natural gas pipeline deal.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama said last month that he would support an energy policy that includes some offshore drilling.

Obama also supports a windfall profits tax on oil companies in order to provide a $1,000 rebate to U.S. households, development of gas-electric hybrid vehicles, and a 'use it or lose' it policy on existing oil and natural gas leases that would require oil companies to develop in government land land they've already borrowed.

Feeling the pain

While energy concerns led the list of economic concerns, the percentage of poll respondents who said that high gas prices were causing them "financial hardship" fell to 63% from 75% in July.

Indeed, gas was selling at $3.67 on Friday - more than 80 cents higher than it was a year ago - but 40 cents below its high point in July.

Commodity investors have been worried that the high price of gasoline and other petroleum-derived fuels have been cutting into demand.

Volatile gas prices ticked upward Friday as Hurricane Ike threatened the north Texas coast. To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.