WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Public support is weak for former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's idea to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency, a survey indicates.
The national opinion survey by Opinion Research Corp. International for the Natural Resources Defense Council indicates Gingrich's Jan. 25 proposal that the EPA be "replaced by an agency that would place equal consideration for corporate interests as it does for protecting American families against air and water pollution" is opposed by 67 percent of Americans -- including 61 percent of Republicans.
The survey of 1,007 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 27-30 indicates 77 percent -- including 61 percent of Republicans -- oppose efforts in Congress to block Clean Air Act updates for carbon, smog and other air pollution.
"The poll findings reflect strong bipartisan support both for the EPA in general, and also for it playing a vigorous role in relation to fighting air pollution," Graham Hueber, senior project manager at ORC International says in a statement. "There is no evidence in this survey to suggest that Americans have any appetite for dismantling an agency that they see as protecting the health of themselves and their families."
More than 24 million Americans with asthma, including more than 7 million children, are at increased risk of adverse health consequences if the members of the House and Senate seeking to block the EPA from updating the Clean Air Act are successful, NRDC says.
The survey has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
