Patrick On The Environment

This letter appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times today…

Congressman Patrick Murphy has received a lot of press for his strong stance against the war in Iraq. What may be less glamorous but equally impressive is the stellar environmental record he has established in his short time in office.

In order to set us on the path to energy independence, he has co-sponsored the Clean Energy Act of 2007, which repeals Big Oil subsidies; the Udall-Platts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, which requires utilities to create or buy 20 percent clean energy by 2020, thus creating almost 350,000 jobs; and the Markey-Platts Fuel Economy Bill, which requires the fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks to be increased by at least 4 percent a year in order to achieve an average fleet-wide fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon by 2018.

Among his conservation efforts, he has co-sponsored the Healthy Farms, Foods and Fuels Act, which increases funding for conservation incentives and assistance to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, and wetlands protection, wildlife habitats, and conserving farm, ranch, and forest lands from sprawl; and the Open Space and Farmland Preservation Act of 2007, which encourages greater cooperation and coordination in conservation efforts. Additionally, he is pushing for permanent tax credits for conservation easements, supporting the Highlands Conservation Partnership, and working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to bring grants to the 8th District.

A member of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus & BioFuels Caucus, he has also co-sponsored or voted for five additional bills, to fight global warming, keep our waters clean, and create a cleaner energy infrastructure.

Commendations to Congressman Murphy for keeping his campaign promise to support clean energy and renewable fuels in order to protect our environment.

Don Berk
Doylestown, PA

To learn more about Patrick, click here. (Sorry if the link is flaky - I double checked the URL and it should work.)

And speaking of the environment, file this under "do as I say, not as I do" as per usual for this guy.