A survey of Florida voters in eight congressional districts finds widespread support for Rep. Kathy Castor's bid to boost fuel economy standards for cars and trucks.

The poll, conducted for the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency which backs higher standards, found 89 percent of those surveyed support requiring the auto industry to raise the average miles per gallon standard.

Castor, a Tampa Democrat, last week joined a group of freshman House Democrats in pushing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to embrace a Senate plan that would raise the standard to 35 miles a gallon by 2020.

The House is poised to take up an energy bill later this month but raising the standard to 35 faces resistance in the House from Rep. John Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The auto industry opposes the Senate proposal, saying it would squeeze car manufacturers and hurt the U.S. economy.

A spokeswoman for Dingell said he favors a House proposal that would raise the standard to 32 miles per gallon by 2022, which "offers the best approach for increasing fuel efficiency in a strong way while not sending good American jobs overseas."

But the poll of 800 likely voters in Florida found support for stricter mileage standards cut across both partisan and vehicle-owning lines. The poll carries a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

"Even after we exposed voters to all the negative arguments from the industry, voters still support strict (fuel economy standards," said pollster Mark Mellman, who helped conduct the survey.

Neither Castor's district, which includes a sliver of Manatee County nor Rep. Vern Buchanan's Sarasota/Bradenton district, was among those surveyed.