Likes to call solar power “the bridge to our future.” Since taking office in January, 2007, Gabby has been both a chief engineer and a tireless construction worker on that solar bridge.

“My mission as an elected official,” Gabby once said, “is to help move solar policy forward.”

A former Fulbright scholar with a Master’s degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University, Gabby brings a keen intellect and a solid understanding of our physical infrastructure to the debate on the nation’s energy future. She has often said that her commitment to developing renewable energy sources — solar in particular — is based on three inseparable issues:  Economic prosperity (in the form green-tech jobs), national security (energy independence), and environmental protection — especially fighting climate change.

Government can only be as good as the poeple who serve. And Gabby helped to raise the bar on good conduct of elected representives. I wish with all my heart that Congresswoman  Giffords makes speedy & full recovery from her gunshot wounds.

In Congress,

At the hearing, Giffords premised her question by highlighting the public’s attention to conservation issues following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as well as the Defense Department’s status as the largest domestic user of energy. She also cited U.S. fuel supply lines that have been under threat in Afghanistan.

“In places like Kandahar, where we have a large presence, we have been plugged into a very unsustainable and incapable grid system,” Giffords said. “We know that a major part of the upcoming Kandahar offensive will include some serious repairs and upgrades to the energy system, which will include small-scale solar and hydropower systems and also some solar-powered street lights. I’m just curious, General, whether or not there’s plans to utilize any of these same technologies at our bases around Afghanistan, and wouldn’t that greatly reduce our need for fuel?”

Tea Party response,

Greg Halvorson, a Portland-based columnist and host of the Freedom Warrior Radio program, urged readers on the blog American Thinker to “hope and pray that Gabs loses in November.”

“Fellow Americans, you have got to be kidding me. This isn’t possible. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), a sitting member of Congress, did not ask General David Petraeus, who flew half way around the world to address battle issues-she did NOT ask him about SOLAR-POWERED STREET LIGHTS! Oh, yes she did!” he wrote in a column titled, “Arizona’s Rep. Giffords goes moonbat on Petraeus.”

Giffords reply,

Giffords pushed back against Paton, saying he “completely fails to understand why our nation’s top military leaders consider our dependence on fuel a strategic disadvantage, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“Even Osama bin Laden recognizes the threat posed by our military’s dependence on fuel supply, calling oil our military’s ‘umbilical cord’ and telling terrorists to ‘focus your operations on oil, especially in Iraq and the Gulf area, since this will cause the [Americans] to die off,’” Giffords said.

she seems like a great gal...i sincerely hope she can recover 100% from her gun shot wound...