If there were actually a candidate running for dogcatcher on the October and November ballots, that politician would undoubtedly find a way to work the BP oil spill and hurricane recovery into his or her platform. Everyone else is doing it—even candidates for lieutenant governor and the Public Service Commission have been tossing the policy ideas around quite frequently, although it’s more fitting of their congressional counterparts this election cycle. Two Republican-leaning firms are behind the poll that justifies the recent reliance on platitudes: Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research and Consulting. They found that regardless of political affiliation, voters across the Gulf Coast have a deep commitment to restoration and see it as key to the economic health of the region. In fact, nearly three out of four voters, or 72% of participants in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, say they’d be more likely to vote for federal legislators if they support funding to restore the environmental viability and perception of the Gulf.
On another front, the poll is timely: A working group named by President Barack Obama to create a long-term Gulf recovery plan, headed by Navy Secretary and former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus, recommended Wednesday that a “significant amount” of the penalties collected from BP for this summer’s oil spill should be dedicated to repairing the damage done to the region’s ecology, economy and public health. While the U.S. House of Representatives has passed an oil spill response bill that directs funding to Gulf Coast restoration, the Senate, even with the elections fast approaching, has yet to act on oil spill response legislation. —Jeremy Alford
