USA: Maryland Senate Fails to Pass Offshore Wind Bill

Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, released the statement regarding the Maryland Senate not voting for O’Malley’s offshore wind bill.

“In the face of increasingly extreme weather linked to climate change and in light of new studies showing Maryland is outrageously vulnerable to sea-level rise, it is totally unacceptable that the Maryland Senate today failed to pass the Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2012. We commend the House of Delegates for passing the bill on March 30th by a commanding vote of 88-47.

 Tragically, petty power politics in Annapolis, not the merits of the bill, appear to have prevented the legislation from moving forward. The bill would have incentivized construction of about 40 large ocean-based turbines ten miles off the coast of Ocean City. It would have reduced the state’s reliance on dirty fossil fuels while keeping tens of millions of tons of global warming pollution out of the air, all while saving our region over a billion dollars in health costs.

 These merits are exactly why the bill held broader, more diverse support than any piece of energy legislation in Maryland in recent memory. Six members of the Senate Finance Committee – three Republicans, three Democrats – killed this bill in the face of overwhelming public support. More than sixty percent of Maryland voters support investments in offshore wind, including majorities in Prince George’s County and Baltimore City, according to polls. In addition to the backing of environmental organizations, the legislation was supported by the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce, the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Office of People’s Counsel.

 As passed in the House, the bill would have resulted in nearly $100 million dollars in investments in minority firms in Maryland. This feature is one of the reasons the House vote included overwhelming support from the Legislative Black Caucus, including current LBC chair Aisha Braveboy (D-Prince George’s). Now those investments will not be made because of the failure of the Senate Finance Committee, despite hard-fought efforts of its committee chair, Senator Thomas Middleton (D-Calvert County).

 “Senator C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s), a swing vote, told minority business leaders just last week that he would support the bill only to oppose it in the end, citing concerns for senior-citizen ratepayers. This despite the fact that the Maryland AARP – the largest interest group in the state for seniors — did not object to the legislation.

 The failure of the Maryland Senate to follow suit and pass this modest and reasonable clean-energy bill is a huge setback for Maryland voters, ratepayers, our climate, and – especially — for minority businesses. Future generations in Maryland will look back on April 9th, 2012 as a sad day for our state. The General Assembly has failed to help protect our state from the ever-rising threat of rapid climate change. We are now poised as a state to ship clean-energy jobs to our neighboring states and we are now handicapped in meeting Maryland’s greenhouse gas reduction statute. All of this in addition to the major blow to our economy.

 But with the stakes so high, the offshore wind coalition in Maryland – featuring labor, faith, environment, business, student, civil rights, and women’s rights organizations – will return even stronger in 2013 to get this bill passed once and for all, thus finally launching a new clean-energy era in the state featuring – eventually — thousands of megawatts of offshore wind power.”

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Offshore WIND staff, April 10, 2012; Image: chesapeakeclimate