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| Maryland lawmakers kill O'Malley's green energy bill |
| 2011-04-16 |
| [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 |
| #6 THANK GOD. |
| Posted by: Mike Ramsey 2011-04-16 16:19 |
| #5 Again I am reminded of the Carter years. Tip O'Neal was the real power. The Democrats did the same thing with solar power. To me this is just another program so similar and I bet money and family connections also. They don't put these things in the city because then they would have to share the money generated. I bet it's like the gambling where the state gets 65% off the top. Then the yearly permits and license fees. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-04-16 11:36 |
| #4 They manufactured a global warming scam so they could pay off their buddies in the "green energy" scam. What a load of trash - the lot of em. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-04-16 10:41 |
| #3 Criminy, can't anyone play this game? Make a deal: for every windmill that the utility company has to underwrite, one oil/NG drilling rig goes in off the eastern shore. Tax proceeds from drilling are used in part to offset the utility tax. If I were governor I could get that deal done in a week. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-04-16 10:17 |
| #2 Watch the plurality start to like sulpher-laden "dirty oil." Gotta love that Colorado "oil-shale." |
| Posted by: Glalet Hapsburg3231 2011-04-16 09:49 |
| #1 It is over. They ran out of other people's money. No one cared about losing a few bucks when money was plentiful. Now they care. Game over. |
| Posted by: Martini 2011-04-16 01:06 |