$4 Gas and the 2008 Elections: What Do Americans Expect on Prices ... and How Big an Issue Will Energy Be?

Do Americans expect gasoline prices to reach or top $4 a gallon this summer? Are energy prices a bigger worry for most Americans than the more widely publicized threats of recession, higher prices and the mortgage foreclosure meltdown? How important will energy and climate change be for voters when they cast their votes later this year? Do most Americans think they are getting gouged at the gas pump by major oil companies?

These are some of the major questions addressed in a new national opinion survey sponsored by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute think tank and its 40MPG.org project. The survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) will be released at 1:30 p.m. ET on January 30, 2008 during a live, national phone-based news conference (with full, two-way Q&A).

  News event speakers will be:

  -- Civil Society Institute President and Founder Pam Solo;

  -- Opinion Research Corporation Senior Researcher Graham Hueber; and

  -- 40mpg.org spokesperson Ailis Aaron Wolf.

CSI and 40MPG.org conducted earlier national opinion surveys about rising gasoline prices in September 2005 and May 2007.

ABOUT CSI

The nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (http://www.civilsocietyinstitute.org/) is a Massachusetts-based think tank that serves as a catalyst for change by creating problem-solving interactions among people, and between communities, government and business that can help to improve society. Since 2003, CSI has conducted more than 15 major national and state-level surveys on energy and global warming issues. CSI is the organizer of both 40MPG.org (http://www.40mpg.org/) and the Hybrid Owners of America (http://www.hybridownersofamerica.org/).