Although the session started late and their speaking times cut short, mostly due to the amount of time it took to get the large number of attendees seated, all the speakers were well prepared and able to get their agendas on the record. Next year they will need a bigger room, for sure.
Mr. Ulman spoke of numerous environmental victories in Howard County such as making Worthington Elementary the first solar powered school in the state and plans to install a recharging bus loop in Columbia. This first-in-the-nation system will feature a system installed under the pavement that will recharge a bus just by being driven over it (cool stuff) The County is installing a Bay Wise backyard at the Robinson Nature Center that will serve as a living example and teaching tool showing how beautiful a Bay friendly backyard can be. The county also is implementing a requirement that all new commercial buildings maintain some level of LEED certification and has begun a curbside food waste pick up service that will serve as a pilot program for a further reduction of landfill waste by using the food waste as compost.
MDE Acting Secretary Dr. Robert Summers spoke about Maryland’s Watershed Implementation Plan, named the best in the Chesapeake watershed, which is now moving to Phase II and requires funding. It is estimated that meeting the implementation of 70% of these practices by 2017 could cost as much as $10 billion statewide. The bulk of these costs fall into three primary areas: First, the continued upgrading of wastewater treatment plants, conversion of conventional septic, and enhancement of wastewater infrastructure (approximately $5 billion); second, the repair or restoration of storm water-related damage throughout the state (approximately $ 4 billion); and third, the upgrade of coal-fired power plants to reduce airborne nutrient pollution (between $1.8 and $3 billion). Mr. Summers stressed the need for conservation and added that large quantities of pollutants are from out of state sources.
Environmental Matters Committee Chair Maggie McIntosh (D-43) humorously called herself the “septic lady” after she was introduced as the “bay lady.” She pointed out that the challenges for this term are enormous and added that our mass transit is grossly underfunded. Her committee reports that $537 million will be needed through 2012 to continue to make upgrades to the sewer treatment plants.“ So the flush tax may need to be doubled,” said Delegate McIntosh. She went on to say that counties are not keeping up and storm water runoff is causing raw sewage to be delivered downstream to places like Herring Run; fracking continues to be a big source of concern as companies continue to move towards drilling in Alleghany and Garrett Counties (stay tuned); DNR is proposing license revocation for those caught poaching oysters; and last but not least, new septic systems installed in the state should be of the best technology available at the time of permitting.
Malcom Woolf, Director of the Maryland Energy Administration, commented on the tangible results that already have been reached by the state’s commitment to renewable energy, such as the installation of 2400 new systems, the 150,000 households that have taken measures to reduce their electric consumption in one way or another and $60 million in energy savings that already have been reached. The state’s Electric Vehicle Initiative is going well with the MEA plan to install car chargers in many locations, a solar hot water bill is in the works and a Net Metering law that is being revised to make it easier for you to get credit for the electricity that you produce but do not use. He mentioned that there is sufficient the wind offshore to produce enough electricity to offset 95% of the Eeastern Sshore’s consumption, which is, as he put it, “making it where it is needed.”
Allison Prost of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation put it best: “It should not be a choice between jobs or the environment. Cleaning up the environment creates jobs.” Newly elected Anne Arundel County Councilman Chris Traumbauer, who also is the West/Rhode Riverkeeper, and Andy Galli of Clean Water Action mentioned that we are all polluters and that we must reverse the damages to which we have all contributed. The Clean Water Bill, they said, will be the largest amount of money ever spent on the problem and that having a dedicated revenue stream will ensure that the work gets done.
With all the challenges facing the legislature in this session, we can all hope that we have the right people in place to make the right decisions and to allocate money where it is needed, as in these essential programs.
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