A majority of New Yorkers feel the risks of natural-gas drilling outweigh the potential revenues, according to a new poll from Cornell University’s Survey Research Institute.
The institute’s annual Empire State Poll found that 52 percent of New York residents believe gas drilling’s environmental risks eclipse its possible revenues. Just 27 percent gave drilling’s revenues more weight than its risks, and 21 percent said they do not know enough about the issue to form an opinion.
Those results are in line with the poll’s previous findings, which also showed twice as many residents placing priority on drilling’s risks as on its revenue generation.
Downstate residents were slightly more worried about the dangers of drilling. Downstate, 54 percent of poll respondents felt the hazards outweighed the revenues, while only 50 percent felt that way Upstate.
Local governments should control drilling, poll respondents felt. Statewide, 61 percent of residents wanted to give control to local governments.
Cornell’s Survey Research Institute conducts about 800 telephone interviews in the spring of each year for its Empire State Poll.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com