The Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session ended on April 11, 2011 and as always, the Maryland LCVEF, along with our partners in the environmental community, worked to protect our Air, Land and Water. Here are the issues we worked on:

• Protecting our Conservation Values through Maryland's Budget

• Offshore Wind: Good Jobs, Clean Power

• Marcellus Shale - Hydraulic Fracturing 

• Reducing Trash in Maryland's Landscape

 View more environmental legislative issues we are working on!

Find out the results by looking at our  2011 Wrap Up!

When we invest in clean energy, clean water and open space we produce good jobs today and we preserve the Maryland that we love for generations to come. One of the best job creation stories in our recent history has been the growth of renewable energy and energy efficiency companies in Maryland because State and Federal investments set the stage for this success story.

The environmental community has worked diligently for over ten years to establish funding sources that consistently support our environment and create jobs. Recent budgets have promoted bay recovery, clean air and water, energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gasses and protecting our most valuable lands. This year revenues are down, further cuts and budget maneuvers threaten to undermine the efforts of our state, counties, farmers, waterman, and the local organizations doing such valuable work restoring our streams, rivers and bays.

The environmental community, while aware of the realities of the current economic climate, is gravely concerned about cuts to the environmental agencies and programs. These are the very same agencies that absorbed significant reductions over the past several years at a rate three times greater than all other agencies.

The programs that we are most concerned with are:

• Program Open Space
• Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund
• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Programs
• Bay Restoration Fund
• Heritage Structure Tax Credit (Historic Tax Credit)

Investing in and protecting these programs have and will continue to set the stage for job growth while protecting and restoring the very things that we love about our state.

Offshore Wind: Good Jobs, Clean Power

Jobs, Jobs Jobs! It's the rallying cry of so many politicians across our country. With so many of our fellow citizens out of work, the economy is on all our minds. In Maryland, we have a great opportunity to create local jobs and protect the environment.
If Maryland is going to meet its emissions reduction and renewable energy goals, we will need to transition to clean energy. According to the Maryland Energy Administration, we will need to include offshore wind power to meet our RPS of 20% by 2022.

A coalition of state environmental groups have united with the United Steelworkers in Maryland to pass a bill in the 2011 Maryland General Assembly Session that will bring offshore wind power and jobs to Maryland!

Environmental Challenge

Offshore wind power could supply up to one third of the Mid Atlantic's electric load with zero emissions, creating thousands of jobs while locking in stable electricity rates. The Maryland Energy Administration has found that offshore wind power has the highest potential for Maryland to meet our renewable portfolio standard of 20 percent clean electricity by 2022.

For a wind company to secure financing to build an offshore wind park, it first needs a long-term contract with a utility or other electricity purchaser. Most of our energy decisions today are made with an emphasis on a short-term outlook and limited priorities. This kind of thinking has led to choosing heavily subsidized and dirty fossil fuels. In fact, Maryland currently gets over half its electricity from dirty coal plants. When we look at the cost over a long-term period -- and when our priorities include price stability, new jobs, and environmental and public health benefits -- offshore wind power is a clear choice for Maryland.

Bill Framework

Offshore wind legislation will require the Public Service Commission to direct public utilities to negotiate long-term contracts for offshore wind power. A twenty-five year contract that satisfies a modest portion of each large electricity supplier's current total power supply with offshore wind power would lock in stable energy prices over that period and create much-needed jobs for the construction, operations, and maintenance of offshore windmills. The legislation will set up a process for utilities to offer requests for offshore wind power proposals and to negotiate contracts for offshore wind electric generation. The legislation will also direct the PSC to consider long-term price stability, environmental and public health benefits, and other factors when determining whether to approve the long-term contracts.

This legislation would:

• Create thousands of new jobs. A 1GW offshore wind park would create close to 5,000 jobs.
• Lock in stable electricity rates for up to 25 years as the wind is free.
• Provide zero-emission power for the state and reduce health-hazardous and heat-trapping pollution from fossil fuels.

For more information on offshore wind and the campaign, please visit MarylandOffshoreWind.org.