Daddy, what did it look like when there was light at night? Sent June 08'

Senator Martinez,
I am a retired Navy Submariner who spent the better part of 21 years protecting our country. I am a new resident to Florida and work at NAS Key West where the most important use of our tax dollars, providing for the common defense, take off and land regularly at the base.

Senator, I will cut to the chase. The energy policy of our government is causing the slow motion demise of this great nation. There is no greater responsibility in Congress than to protect the country. It cannot be done with entitlements, with pork barrel projects, or with political correctness that overrides calling a spade a spade so we don't offend some small minority at the expense of the majority.

With the latter in mind, I must point out the responsible party for the energy debacle. It is not a Republican or a Democrat. It is a person who is more interested in getting re-elected than in the continued life and more importantly, liberty of his or her constituents. The "feel good" energy policies of our government that restrict the development of all our energy resources will bring this country to its' knees or worse in the end. Conserving is not the whole answer. A loaf of bread can only be sliced so many times before somebody gets hungry and starts taking your slice.

A release of this policy has multiple benefits. It increases jobs in multiple markets and it will help rebuild our steel refining capabilities and manufacturing base. This should be good news to your colleagues from the rust belt. On a side, there is still no better steel than ours. We have welded with both Chinese and American steel on the base and always ask for American steel when doing important projects. In addition to this, Congress will have more money to spend on the important things like roads and bridges that take our goods to market and beyond.

I know it took years to get us into this corner senator and I understand that it will take years to get us out. Some of your colleagues say drilling and finding more oil will not change the future cost of energy. When did the Law of Supply and Demand get rewritten? In any case, I am not so much concerned with the cost of energy as with the availability of it.

Senator, please do not be selfish. Look past the now and realize that no governmental policy or tax scheme will keep this nation firmly rooted when it interferes with a constant flow of reliable energy, regardless of its' source.

Respectfully,
Edward Rodda