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Maryland lawmakers kill O'Malley's green energy bill
[Washington Examiner] Maryland's progressive state politicians couldn't quite swallow the bitter-green energy pill that Gov. Martin O'Malley...the pretty boy governor of Maryland... tried to shove down their throats. Despite high-powered lobbying, old-fashioned arm-twisting, and the governor's own testimony at a legislative hearing in Annapolis, both chambers of the General Assembly wisely shelved the Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2011, O'Malley's signature environmental initiative. Following the lead of the B.O. regime, which opened Maryland's coast to offshore wind farms last November, tried to impose a Caliphornialike mandate on Maryland utilities that would force them to underwrite the $1.5 billion cost of building the nation's first wind farm offshore from Ocean City by purchasing between 400 and 600 megawatts of wind power over the next 25 years. The measure was supported by the usual environmental and labor union suspects who claimed that it would create 2,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, while generating clean, renewable energy. It was opposed by business and farming groups who correctly pointed out that since such costs are ultimately passed on to consumers, the bill amounted to a $1.5 billion energy tax on Marylanders. If wind power was economically viable, utilities would have been using it by now. Even O'Malley's desperate, last-minute attempt to cap the increase on residential electric bills to $2 per month for the first year didn't sway skeptical politicians. Senate Finance chairman Thomas Middleton conceded there were too many unanswered questions before pulling the bill he co-sponsored before a vote in his own committee. It met a similar fate in the House. Posted by: Fred 2011-04-16 |
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