TV ads will prod senator on oil drilling in Alaska

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Mar. 10, 2005

TV ads will prod senator on oil drilling in Alaska

BY CURTIS MORGAN
[e-mail]


Television ads urging Florida Sen. Mel Martinez to vote against oil and gas drilling in Alaska are scheduled to begin airing today in the Orlando and Tallahassee areas.

The campaign, paid for by several environmental groups, asks viewers to call the offices of the freshman Republican senator from Orlando and urge him to oppose opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.

The theme: Alaska is a ''slippery slope'' that could lead to drilling off the west coast of Florida and other parts of the Gulf of Mexico.
(snip)

In response to questions about the ad, Martinez's Washington office released a statement that he opposes drilling off Florida but is still studying the Arctic issue.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore drilling ''are two separate and distinct issues -- apples and oranges,'' Martinez said. ``The effort to try and link them together simply weakens our own argument that offshore drilling must never happen off our coasts.''
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/11095274.htm



Mel Martinez and friend