Nearly 80 percent of likely general election voters want President Joe Biden to increase U.S. energy production, a national poll found in March.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its disruptions to the international energy economy, 89 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of independents, and 67 percent of Democrats said Biden should "make increasing American energy production a priority," according to the Trafalgar Group poll.
The poll comes a week after the Biden administration banned all Russian imports of oil and gas to the United States. The move will likely prolong high gas prices, which hit an all-time high last week. Republican lawmakers warned the president before the ban that any energy sanction on Russia would be meaningless unless the administration also dropped its opposition to U.S. oil and gas production.
"This is a step that we're taking to inflict further pain on Putin," Biden said on March 8. "But there will be costs as well here in the United States."
Biden has reportedly sought an audience with the oil-producing nations Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates amid spiking gas prices in the United States.
Slightly more Democrats than Republicans participated in the poll, which surveyed more than 1,000 likely general election voters between March 7 and 11.
As of yesterday, one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline costs $4.32.