Supporters of President Obama are twice as likely to want stringent regulation on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) than Mitt Romney backers, according to a Bloomberg National Poll released Thursday.

The poll, which surveyed 1,007 adults Sept. 21-24, found that 76% of likely Obama supporters wanted more regulation of fracking compared to 32% for the Romney camp.

Nationwide, the poll found that 56% of Americans believe there needs to be more regulation of fracking, down from 65% in March. The share of poll respondents calling for less regulation of fracking rose to 29% in the most recent poll from 18%, Bloomberg said.

Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, was not surprised by the increased public support for fracking. “As more Americans understand the tight, common sense regulations in place that ensure our nation’s abundant, job-creating natural gas resources are produced safely and in a way that provide broad-based environmental and economic benefits, especially in terms of job creation and more affordable energy costs for consumers, the more public support we’ll continue to see for this truly historic opportunity.”

And “with tightly regulated American natural gas development, we’re not presented with a choice between a strong economy and a healthy environment. We’re absolutely realizing both,” she said.

The poll was conducted by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, IA.