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| Maryland becoming the East Coast California |
| 2009-10-06 |
| Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Maryland legislature seem dead set on turning their state into the East Coast version of California - the once happy and prosperous jurisdiction on the West Coast that's now on the verge of chaos and bankruptcy. One of California's many suicidal impulses was a landmark law it passed in 2006 giving unprecedented authority to the California Air Resources Board to implement regulations aimed at reducing emissions at the state level, including a provision mandating a 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency for new cars by 2016 that is currently being challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals by the Chamber of Commerce and the National Automobile Dealers Association. Maryland is now heading down the same dead end. Despite the worse recession in a generation, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act of 2009 mandates a draconian 25 percent reduction in 2006 greenhouse gas levels by 2020. The legislation was largely the handiwork of a strange coalition of global warming activists and union officials, according to Maryland Commons, a now defunct Web site. In fact, Brad Heavner, state director of Environment Maryland, bragged during an interview with Maryland Commons that his group was the "lead policy/lobbying group" in getting the legislation written and passed after a previous attempt in 2007 failed. "Right after the session in 2007, Gov. O'Malley created the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, we believe in response to this legislation," Heavner said. Jim Strong, subdistrict director of the United Steelworkers, added that "when you put everyone at the table, and everybody listens, good things can happen." Except everyone was not at the table. As Paul Chesser of the Heartland Institute noted in a 2008 Examiner op-ed, the commission was the brainchild of the Center for Climate Strategy, "an activist group of climate alarmists" funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The CCS convinced states to set up supposedly blue-ribbon panels to give the aura of legitimacy to their radical environmental agenda. The one in Maryland was made up of "a handful of 'experts' like the state's school superintendent and transportation secretary." There were no dissenting voices to point out the damage such stringent environmental regulations would do to Maryland's economy. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Don't give up on NJ we suck more! |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2009-10-06 21:43 |
| #1 You mean broke! |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-10-06 16:42 |