Californians show little confidence in federal spill response


SAN FRANCISCO
July 28, 2010 9:01pm

Partisan divisions are stark in the latest Public Policy Institute of California statewide survey on environmental issues, the nonpartisan organization says.

But 
Californians are more united in their low levels of confidence in the federal government's handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Just 21 percent have either a great deal (8 percent) or good amount (13 percent) of confidence in the government to make the right decisions in dealing with the spill.

Fewer than one in five residents across political, regional, and demographic groups express a great deal of confidence.

Residents also lack confidence in the federal government's ability to prevent future spills. About three in 10 are very (7 percent) or fairly (21 percent) confident, 32 percent are not very confident, and 37 percent are not confident at all.


Methodology

The PPIC survey was done with funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Findings are based on a telephone survey of 2,502 California adult residents reached by landline and cell phones throughout the state. Interviews took place from July 6–20, and were conducted in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), Vietnamese, and Korean. The sampling error is ±2 percent for all adults, ±2.2 percent for the 1,971 registered voters, and ±2.7 percent for the 1,321 likely voters.