Senator Martinez needs more education on energy

Senator Martinez needs more education on energy

I am very disturbed about the remarks from Senator Martinez Monday as outlined in the Tuesday article. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida criticizes Obama budget. Martinez is uninformed and makes inflammatory remarks, some of which contradict votes he cast in the 110th Congress. Martinez claims a cap-and-trade plan to mitigate CO2 emissions and establish funding mechanisms to reinvest towards clean technologies will 'hurt Florida' yet in June of 2008 Martinez voted for a bill that would do exactly that (the bill did not garner the votes needed and failed in the Senate).

Martinez also claims Florida has "no availability of solar", Yet the scientific radiation maps show the Sunshine State has more solar radiation than Germany, a country leading the world in solar generation capacity. As a Senator of a state with a budget shortfall, overwhelming foreclosure problems and nation-leading job-loss, my hope is Senator Martinez can become more informed on the opportunity that our energy crisis provides as suggested by his June 2008 vote.

Strong energy and climate legislation is essential for long-term economic prosperity. Building our nation's low-carbon energy infrastructure is an important part of the solution to our current economic crisis. Delaying action on clean energy policies will deny U.S. businesses access to low-cost, renewable power and will mean more expensive solutions to address climate change in the future.

I urge Senator Martinez to seize this opportunity to reinvigorate our economy through green jobs that support American workers and cannot be shipped overseas.