A National Journal Congressional Connection/Society for Human Resource Management Poll released today reveals telling results about what the public believes Congress’ priorities should be over the coming months.  Jobs and energy topped the priority list for the one thousand people surveyed—81% want Congress to address the job situation and 67% believe Congress should attend to the nation’s energy needs.  

This survey is just latest evidence that the American people understand that jobs are directly linked to energy.  While America’s oil and natural gas industry currently supports over 9 million jobs, there are another 1.2 million jobs and $8 trillion in economic output available in the responsible development of our Outer Continental Shelf energy sources.  Despite the ongoing struggle surrounding the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, the enormous opportunity for job and economic growth, along with increased American energy production, are why 64 percent of Americans still support offshore drilling.  With that in mind, it’s not surprising that the job killing national energy tax ranked as the lowest priority with only 32% believing it crucial for Congress to address climate change.