Driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg on the Veterans for American Power tour, I am reminded of the fact that this road, when it was first built in the late 1930s, was the longest limited-access divided highway in the United States.

Indeed, the Turnpike was, in its day, revolutionary.

Pennsylvania, my home state, has often led the way in this manner.  In fact, PA was the site of the first commercial oil well, drilled by Edwin Drake near Titusville in 1858.  We led the nation in steel production, and many important inventions — such as the “hookless fastener” (zipper) invented in Meadville in the early 20th century — came from this state.

Now Pennsylvania has the chance to lead in a new field — clean energy industry.  The state has a large, well-trained blue-collar workforce, and factories that are below capacity and available to be re-tooled to build wind turbine blades and solar panels.   It’s already happening in some places, but for clean energy to really blossom, we need comprehensive national policy.

And that’s where Senators Specter and Casey come in.  They have a great opportunity to bring the Commonwealth and the nation into the industry of the future.  By supporting a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill, they will ensure that we strengthen our security, and at the same time create new jobs for a new Pennsylvania.

From the Turnpike to the zipper, here is nothing that Pennsylvania cannot do if we have leadership and vision.  So it’s time for Senators Specter and Casey to stand strong and support clean energy/climate legislation.

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