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According to a latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, voters in the United States are going all out to demand more solar and wind energy — but that does not mean they are opposed to drilling for more oil at the same time.

The opinion poll’s findings indicate that whatsoever political advantage Democrats or Republicans desire to get from the national argument over energy policy will be dependent on how skillfully they bundle their perspectives. Democrats have contradicted amplified offshore drilling and accentuated options to oil. Republicans have demanded amplifying oil exploration to regions presently out-of-bounds. Leaders in both parties have begun struggling for ground someplace in the middle, where a big chunk of electors appear to stand.

According to the Journal-NBC poll, 72% of the responders said that developing alternate energy sources could achieve a great deal. When the question was asked in a different way, 61% of respondents chose developing alternative energy sources as the step that should receive the most stress from policy makers. Twenty-five percent responded that exploring and drilling for oil in the United States should get the most stress, and 12% picked “having Americans economize and utilize less oil.”

When asked whether expanding areas for drilling for oil off coastal states was a step in the right direction, 63% said it was, with 44% saying it would accomplish a great deal. Only 27% said that allowing for further drilling off coastal states was a step in the wrong direction.

Asked about building more nuclear plants, 53% said it was a step in the right direction. Thirty-one percent said it was a step “in the wrong direction.”

The results suggest that the ongoing energy debate between Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic challenger, Barack Obama is not the fight that the American public cares about.

The poll found greater levels of skepticism among voters about releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — an idea recommended by Sen. Obama and many congressional Democrats — and setting aside the federal gas tax, an idea defended by Sen. McCain. Fewer than half of those polled thought those ideas were a step in the right direction.

According to analysts, what the voters are saying is that there needs to be a whole new way of considering troubles, and that they do not want the same old fights and the same old divisions.

After weeks of criticizing expanded drilling, Sen. Obama has said he could support an expansion of offshore drilling, as long as it is part of a “genuine bipartisan compromise” that includes other measures to reduce the country’s oil dependence.

Many Republicans have brushed aside that statement, saying they suspect the Democrats’ proposal will contain other provisions objectionable to their side. Sen. McCain has also continued to attack Sen. Obama on the issue, visiting an offshore oil rig this week to highlight his support for more offshore oil production

Congress is gearing up to return to Washington in September to debate whether to pass new legislation that attempts to respond to high oil prices by funding alternative-energy sources and expanding access to domestic petroleum. Central points in the debate are whether to lift the 27-year-old drilling moratorium that largely covers the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and whether to expand tax credits and other subsidies for alternate energy technology such as wind and solar power.

Read more about Investing in Renewable Technologies: Wind, Solar, Geotherm, Hydro, Biomass