Nigerian Times

30 Apr 2008 05:01 Africa/Lagos Energy : The Rising Toll on Perceptions of America's Foreign Policy NEW YORK, April 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rising fears about the health of the U.S. economy are spilling over into the public's thinking about foreign policy issues, and their concerns about the nation's dependence on others to satisfy its energy needs are particularly pronounced. The Spring 2008 edition of the Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index from Public Agenda and its partner Foreign Affairs reveals that six out of ten Americans (60 percent) say reducing energy dependence would strengthen our nation's security "a great deal," the highest percentage since the Index's inception and now the most highly rated of 12 basic strategies to improve national security explored in the survey. Analysis and data for questions asked in all six editions of the CFPI are available at: http://www.publicagenda.org/CFPI6 Whereas improving intelligence operation...

20 Apr 2008 22:01 Africa/Lagos World Publics Say Oil Needs to Be Replaced as Energy Source COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll finds that majorities in 15 of 16 nations surveyed around the world think that oil is running out and governments should make a major effort to find new sources of energy. Most think that future oil prices will be much higher. Only 22 percent on average believe that "enough new oil will be found so that it can remain a primary source of energy for the foreseeable future." Only in Nigeria does a majority (53%) endorse the view that governments can rely on oil in the long term. Instead, an average of 70 percent takes the position that governments should assume that "oil is running out and it is necessary to make a major effort to replace oil as a primary source of energy." The largest majorities endorsing this view are found in South Korea (97%), France (91%), Mexico (83%) and China (...