Martinez trades vote for promise:
A Bush administration commitment to support the moratorium on oil and gas exploration off Florida’s Gulf Coast until 2012 was Sen. Mel Martinez’s price for supporting controversial drilling in the Alaskan wilderness.
Although he had indicated his support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge during last year’s Senate campaign, Martinez said he reconsidered the issue with an eye toward whether it would open the door to drilling off the Florida coast.
Without the administration’s commitment, Martinez said he would have opposed the Arctic drilling.
myfanwy collins 