“With the valuable strategic guidance and leadership offered by MDLCVEF staff, our coalition generated the tremendous pressure necessary to encourage Governor Ehrlich to include full funding for Program Open Space in his 2006 budget.”
-Marcia Verploegen Lewis, Partners for Open Space
Issues
What's Going on during the 2013 Session
The Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session started on January 9th and as always, the Maryland LCV, along with our partners in the environmental community, will fight to protect our Air, Land and Water. Here is what we are working on:
The Bay, a national treasure and regional economic resource, suffers from severely degraded water quality. This campaign is designed build on last session's successes and further Maryland's waterways and the Chesapeake Bay itself down the path of steady improvements in water quality and quality of life for those who live, recreate, and work on and near the Chesapeake. The suite of policies we are pursuing will build on last session's successes by improving the stormwater pollution regulation, ensuring that funding sources are protected and secured, that beneficial regulations on septic systems and manure spreading are enacted, and significantly reduce the number of disposable bags used and entering the waste and litter stream.
Fracking is a dangerous drilling method used to extract natural gas from shale rock. Around the country, natural gas fracking has attracted widespread attention as surrounding communities have been subjected to drinking and ground water contamination, climate pollution, and land scarring. In Ohio, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, the injection of wastewater from the fracking process caused tremors and earthquakes. Due to the threat of these consequences in Maryland, it is imperative that the General Assembly place a moratorium on fracking until careful, independent analyses are completed to determine whether the risky drilling practice makes sense for Maryland.
Offshore wind is one of Maryland's greatest untapped energy resources. Capturing even a fraction of this potential will yield dramatic benefits for our nation's energy security and the environment. Developing Maryland's offshore wind resources could lead to the creation of more than 15,000 jobs over the next 20 years and would enable us to meet our clean energy requirement of 20% renewable energy by 2022. In utilizing the resource, we will reduce hazardous heat-trapping pollution, and greater energy independence will strengthen our national security. We will be working to pass legislation to incentivize offshore wind power and create good local jobs.
Check out the Poll Results here