It’s no coincidence that the greatest supporters for fracking tend to come from the Republican party. The Republican party has traditionally favored many methods that can help create jobs and wealth in the country, and fracking is just another way for the party to promote such a philosophy. Republican voters are thus the easiest to sway to the cause. In addition, according a Gallup poll from March 2015, adults aged 65 or older support fracking the most out of any other age demographic.
The hardest group to recruit to the cause are most democratic voters and groups promoting more environmental oversight and policies that ensure the protection of the earth. Many Americans between the ages of 18 to 29 oppose fracking and those who have reported having an active role in the environmental movement strongly oppose fracking (nearly 53%). Below is a table from the Gallup poll reporting on this issue:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/182075/americans-split-support-fracking-oil-natural-gas.aspx
Recently, many fracking activities have started taking place on Native American land which has prompted a number of protests. Of these protests, the one that has accrued the most media attention is the protest held by the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota who have been protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. This tribe has been joined by many other tribes to oppose the construction of a pipeline that would run from North Dakota all the way to Illinois. Along with active environmentalists, these groups will be the hardest to persuade to support fracking activities.
Furthermore, the Pew Research Center has conducted a number of different polls asking the American public about their opinion on fracking. Most Americans identifying as Republicans, again, support fracking. What’s interesting in this poll is that a number of Democrats and Independents supported fracking in March 2013, however, the number of Democrats and Independents has declined over the past couple of years, making it much harder to recruit them to support fracking.
http://www.pewresearch.org/key-data-points/environment-energy-2/
An interesting demographic that has not been tapped is the base that does not know enough about fracking to make an informed decision. Gallup’s Environment Survey in 2016 had 13% of people not knowing enough, or not having an opinion on fracking. While that does not seem like a large number, the balance between support and opposition for fracking has never been closer. Just last year, the support for fracking was split with the opposition to it 40-40. People not having a decision was slightly higher at 19%. This year, the balance slipped towards the opposition with 51% of people being opposed to it while only 36% people favored fracking. Why I bring up the 13% who did not have enough information to be for or against fracking is because of the opportunity. A strong move for fracking companies would be to put the resources into educating the public. Not only would they have the opportunity to support local oil, but there would be a window for them to turn the American focus away from the Middle East and towards our own oil economy. Along with trying to sway the uninformed to vote for them, this positive movement could also bring support from the opposition back towards fracking.
A tough demographic to chip away at are the people who support Alternative Energy Sources. Fracking falls under the category of Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas. There has been negative press around oil and gas companies due to recent mishaps such as the Shell Oil Spill. Americans also tend to have high hope for the future. Solar, wind, and hydro energy promises a cleaner fuel option. The technology has not arrived to make those forms of energy as productive as oil and gas but there have been major strides in the past years. The way to get into this demographic is by laying down the truth. From the Pew Survey mentioned earlier, people generally did not know much about the policies behind the energy supply. A lot actually turned their view around and supported more drilling in lands owned by the United States. People have these high hopes for clean energy for the future but tend to forget to ground themselves and look at the opportunities right in front of us.
One demographic that may not know they are being affected is landowners in fracking heavy states. According to the Rural Advancement Foundation International, over 59,000 acres of owned land are going to be targeted by fracking companies in upcoming months because of fracking companies predatory leasing rights cases. Fracking companies may use a tactic called compulsory pooling. “Compulsory pooling can result in the loss of your property rights and allow oil and gas companies to force the leasing of your property.” Many landowners do not consult lawyers when confronted by these fracking companies and in turn lose property rights and get taken advantage of. Property owners who are vulnerable to being affected this way could be difficult for fracking companies to win over.
Another demographic that could be positively affected by fracking is small businesses in the towns where fracking companies reside. This is because new wells bring in a new influx of revenue and people who will work the drill. For small businesses this means that there will be more revenue circulating through the town which would help to support small businesses.
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