$3.50 Gas Price Expected This Summer by About 3 Out of 4 Americans, Half Will Cut Travel, Spending in Response

Mounting Frustration Evident: 83% See Gas Price Gouging, 77% Say Not Enough Federal Action, 67% Want Higher MPG Standard Now, 77% Back Oil Windfall Profits Tax.

WASHINGTON, May 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly three out of four Americans (72 percent) expect gasoline prices to reach $3.50 a gallon this summer and just over one in four (28 percent) foresee prices at $4 a gallon in the next few months, according to a major new Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) survey conducted for the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI) think tank and its 40MPG.org project. More than four out of five Americans (83 percent) already think that there is price gouging going on at the gas pump today.

In response to the increasing pain at the pump, about half of Americans say they will "definitely" or "probably" cut back on personal spending (51 percent) and summer or end-of-year holiday travel (46 percent) if gasoline reaches $3.50 a gallon this summer. Nearly three in 10 (29 percent) Americans say they are more likely to buy a hybrid or other highly fuel-efficient car if gasoline hits $3.50 a gallon.


Other key findings of the CSI/40MPG.org survey:

-- More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) believe the federal government is not doing enough about the high cost of energy and this country's dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Nearly two thirds of Republicans (64 percent) think the government isn't doing enough compared to 79 percent of Independents and 88 percent of Democrats.

-- More than two thirds of Americans (67 percent) say that recent gas price increases make it more important that the Federal government take steps to increase the fuel-efficiency standards in this country. There is strong support across party lines for such action, including 61 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Independents and 75 percent of Democrats.

-- There is considerable public support for a windfall profits tax on oil companies if the revenue is used to research alternative energy (77 percent).


Commenting on the survey findings, Civil Society Institute President and 40MPG.org founder Pam Solo said: "These survey findings should send a real jolt through the corridors of the White House and the halls of Congress. Americans are fed up with skyrocketing gasoline prices and they want action, including higher federal fuel-efficiency standards now for cars and other vehicles. We hope that all the Washington 'experts' who want to wait for a decade until 2017 or 2018 to gradually increase federal mileage standards see the results of this survey. We can and should take bold action now to reduce our addition to Middle Eastern oil and to cut greenhouse gas emissions."

Opinion Research Corporation Senior Research Associate Graham Hueber said: "What we see in these findings is a real consensus view among American consumers that gas prices are already too high and that they are going to reach even more painfully high levels this summer. The findings about expected cuts in summer and end-of-year travel plans, as well as the expectation of reductions in general consumer spending, must be viewed with real concern. Clearly, the idea that Americans are just going to accept higher gasoline prices with no real reaction does not appear to be well founded."

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
Other key findings of the CSI/40MPG.org survey include the following:

-- Higher fuel prices would hit those with lower incomes the hardest. About three-fifths (61 percent) of those in households with less than $25,000 in income say they will definitely or probably have to cut back on personal spending if gasoline hits $3.50 a gallon, compared to about half (51 percent) of all households).

-- Women (88 percent) are more likely then men (77 percent) to perceive such price gouging at the gas pump. The overall level of 83 percent of Americans seeing gas price gouging is roughly the same as in September 2005 (86 percent) when CSI/40MPG.org asked the same question during a time of escalating gasoline prices and calls for a windfall profits tax on oil company profits.

-- More than two-thirds of Americans (67 percent) say that recent gas price increases make it more important that the Federal government take steps to increase the fuel-efficiency standards in this country. Only 22 percent say that price hikes have had no impact on the need for such action and fewer than one in 10 (9 percent) say it is now less important that the government take action. There is strong support across party lines for such action, including 61 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Independents and 75 percent of Democrats.

-- Over half of Americans (54 percent) would support raising the taxes on gasoline sales if that revenue would be used for research into alternative fuels. This idea is more popular with women (58 percent) than it is with men (50 percent). The idea of earmarking a portion of existing federal income taxes for research into alternative fuels is a wildly popular idea among those age 18-24 (74 percent).

-- More than three out of four Americans (78 percent) say they support using some of the money collected in the Federal Highway Trust Fund from taxes on gasoline sales, to investigate alternative energy sources.

-- Two-thirds of Americans are either more likely (35 percent) or just as likely (31 percent) to buy a hybrid, clean-diesel or other highly fuel efficient car as they were six months ago. Less than a third (31 percent) say they are less likely to make such a purchase.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The new CSI/40MPG.org survey was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation among a sample of 1,013 adults (504 men and 509 women) aged 18 and over living in private households in the Continental United States. Interviewing for this survey was completed during the period of April 19-22, 2007.

The other survey mentioned here also was conducted by ORC and involved 1,019 adults (507 men and 512 women) aged 18 and over living in private households in the Continental United States. Interviewing for the earlier survey was completed during the period of September 15-18, 2005. Both surveys were weighted by four variables: age, sex, geographic region and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total population. The margin of error for both surveys at the 95 percent confidence level is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Smaller sub-groups in either survey will have larger error margins.

Source: Civil Society Institute and 40MPG.org, Newton, MA