The Hill Poll: Slight majority opposes Obama on Keystone XL

More than half of likely voters disagree with President Obama’s decision to deny a permit for the construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, according to The Hill Poll.

The announcement, made last Wednesday, has drawn harsh criticism from the right, with Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney calling it a sign that Obama puts “politics ahead of sound policy.”

A number of unions and many conservatives argued that the pipeline construction was a good way to create jobs in an economy that needs them.

Seventy-five percent of Republicans, 69 percent of conservatives and slightly more than half of centrists disagreed with Obama’s decision, the poll found.

But environmentalists — many of whom have been disappointed by Obama’s tenure thus far — praised his decision, saying the project was risky and would have increased global warming.

Fifty-seven percent of liberals and 54 percent of Democrats in the poll supported Obama’s choice.

Click here to view data from The Hill Poll.

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