Concerns Americans have over energy costs and availability have spiked over the last decade, according to a poll.
A new survey from Gallup found 47% of Americans worry a “great deal” about the cost and availability of energy, an increase from 37% about a year ago.
Gallup noted it is more than twice the percentage in 2020. Another 30% worry a “fair amount,” 17% say they worry “only a little,” and 5% do not worry “at all.”
Additionally, 44% of Americans describe the energy situation as “very serious” compared to 46% who say it is “fairly serious” and 10% identify it as “not at all serious.”
Respondents also weighed in on President Joe Biden’s handling of energy policy with 38% saying they approve. Thirty-six percent say they approve of his handling of the economy.
The poll was conducted from March 1 to 18.
The results come as the U.S. continues to struggle with prices at the pump following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prosper Trading Academy CEO Scott Bauer told Yahoo Finance Live if “the situation in Russia/Ukraine remains like this, oil prices are going to remain probably [at] $100+” per barrel.
He added, “We’re coming up to the busiest demand—the peak—coming up to summer time.”
According to Bauer, if “the tensions stay like this, I think you’re going to see $5 a gallon easily in peak demand by Memorial Day.”
Meanwhile, as CBS News notes, the number of Americans who say inflation is the biggest problem is close to a 40-year high.
Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, told the outlet, “The prices that people notice the most are often energy and food. You fill up every week, and you go to the grocery store every week and there are inflationary pressures there still.”
