Poll: 53% Favor Keystone XL Pipeline

A majority of voters continue to favor the building of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas that congressional Republicans are prodding President Barack Obama to approve in legislation passed last week.

Republicans see the pipeline as a job creator, while Democrats view it as an environmental risk.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 53 percent of Likely Voters now at least somewhat favor building the Keystone XL pipeline. That’s down seven points from 60 percent five weeks ago, but the level of strong support is basically unchanged.

In November, the overall finding included 36 percent who Strongly Favored building the pipeline, and 35 percent feel that way now.

Twenty-nine percent of voters at least somewhat oppose building the pipeline, with 15 percent who are Strongly Opposed. In the previous survey, 24 percent were opposed, including 10 percent Strongly Opposed. Seventeen percent remain undecided.

The shift in numbers is largely due to increased opposition by Democrats and voters not affiliated with either of the major political parties. More than 70 percent of Republicans still favor the pipeline, but a plurality (46 percent) of voters in the president’s party now are opposed, compared to 46 percent who favored it in November.

Similarly, 61 percent of unaffiliated voters supported building the pipeline in the earlier survey. Now, just 49 percent favor the project, and opposition has risen from 22 percent to 27 percent. The number of undecideds has increased among these voters as well.

More