Shoreline
Protection, Clean Energy Policies Top the List of Victories
Annapolis – The
2008 Maryland General Assembly adjourned at midnight on
April 7. This was a legislative session
full of important steps forward for the environment. In partnership with Gov. O’Malley and a
statewide coalition of partners, Environment Maryland helped win key victories to
protect the Chesapeake Bay, improve
our energy policies, and take steps forward on other environmental issues.
One of our top priorities this session
was controlling development along the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay, to protect a buffer of
vegetation that limits pollution entering the waterways. We were able to make this a reality by passing
strong reforms to the Critical Area Act.
Introduced by the O’Malley administration, this bill will give the Critical
Area Commission the authority it needs to administer and enforce protections
against overdevelopment in the most environmentally sensitive land in the state.
The Maryland General Assembly also passed sweeping
legislation during this year’s legislative session to increase renewable energy
and energy efficiency. One bill more than doubles the state’s renewable energy
standard to 20 percent by 2022.
Other clean energy bills will increase energy efficiency
programs. The EmPower Maryland initiative requires utilities to manage programs
that reduce per capita electricity consumption by 10 percent by 2015. Another
bill, the Strategic Energy Investment Program, is an outcome from the Healthy
Air Act, which we helped pass two years ago. The new bill implements the
funding provisions of the 2006 law. It will create at least $40 million per
year for clean energy.
The General Assembly failed to pass the Global Warming
Solutions Act, which would have required the state to reduce global warming
pollution 25 percent by 2020.
Despite being held harmless from the legislation, the United
Steelworkers played into the hands of lobbyists opposing the bill. Three other
unions endorsed the bill, since it would have created thousands of “green
jobs,” but legislative leaders backed down in the face of the dispute.
Environment Maryland
will continue to press for a statewide cap on global warming pollution, in
addition to implementing specific clean energy policies.
See the full list of legislative highlights: http://www.environmentmaryland.org/issues/at-the-capitol/legislative-roundups
