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As a member of both the Senate Energy and Environment committees, I am working to stop the handouts to the fossil fuel industry. I have introduced legislation called the End Polluter Welfare Act. Rep. Keith Ellison filed the companion bill in the House of Representatives. Our measure calls for the elimination for all subsidies to the oil, gas and coal industries.

Senate Approves Kerry for Secretary of State

Instead, he believes that money is better spent promoting breakthroughs in the renewable energy sector, once more emphasizing economic responsibility rather than ethical responsibility. Growth in the renewable energy sector means growth in jobs, growth in energy output, and growth in profit. The wind industry alone now employs 75,000 working Americans, supplying residents with more than 50,000 megawatts of electricity (an output equivalent to 50 nuclear plants).  Similar numbers are seen in the solar energy and weatherization industries – a testament to the vitality and potential of the renewable energy sector.

In just the last two months of the campaign, outside groups linked to dirty energy sources or the promotion of a dirty energy agenda spent more than $270 million on TV ads in the presidential, House, and Senate races and industry ads promoting oil, gas, and coal interest, and more than $31 million was spent on energy-related ads, according to a Center for American Progress Action Fund analysis of data from Kantar Media’s CMAG. This includes more than $109 million spent in congressional races with $21.7 million on energy-specific ads. During that time, more than 59,600 spots ran on energy and environmental issues in the presidential race and key House and Senate races.