Elon Poll: Most in NC support offshore drilling

RALEIGH — An Elon University poll says more than two-thirds of North Carolina adults support drilling for oil off the state’s coast.

The poll released Monday found that 69 percent of respondents supported or strongly supported offshore drilling. About one-quarter opposed the idea.

The poll found that most people expect the drilling to affect gas prices, with 14 percent expecting that prices would lower within a year once drilling was allowed. The federal government has said that opening additional drilling sites would have an insignificant affect on oil prices.

Elon surveyed 411 adults in North Carolina from Monday to Thursday last week. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

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