Maryland
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Maryland county draws a “car-free blueprint for growth”
Montgomery County redefined the way it will grow in the next two decades when lawmakers endorsed a plan Tuesday that encourages development where residents can easily live a car-free lifestyle. The County Council, after weeks of intense debate over the county’s growth policy, unanimously agreed to give developers discounts to build dense developments near transit […]
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Sen. Ben Cardin answers Grist’s questions on public transit and mountaintop removal mining
Beltway observers of all stripes owe Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) a debt of gratitude. In 2006, after 20 years in the House of Representatives, he ran for Maryland’s newly vacant Senate seat against then-Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Steele’s defeat put him on a trajectory to become chair of the Republican National Committee, where he has […]
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As reservoirs fall, water prices should rise
Last week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency and warned of possible mandatory water rationing as the state struggled through its third consecutive year of drought. This well-intentioned response to the latest water crisis should not come as a surprise.
Whenever prolonged droughts take place -- anywhere in the United States -- public officials can be expected to give impassioned speeches, declare emergencies, and impose mandatory restrictions on water use. Citizens are frequently prohibited from watering lawns, and businesses are told to prepare emergency plans to cut their usage. A day after the restrictions are announced, the granting of special exemptions typically begins (as in Maryland a few years ago, when car washes were allowed to remain open even if they were not meeting conservation requirements).
The droughts eventually pass, and when they do, water users go back to business as usual, treating water as if it were not a scarce resource. Water conservation efforts become a thing of the past, until the next drought, until the next unnecessary crisis. Isn't there a better way?
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NYT: Maryland poultry CAFOs snuff out Chesapeake oyster industry
In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. —– I write this on the second day of December — one among a string of months that end in “r.” That means, for those of us who live near the sea, it’s time to consider the oyster, that glorious […]
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Police spy on climate activist while global warming goes unarrested
Terrorist Activist Mike Tidwell (at podium) exhibiting clearly threatening behavior. Photo: chesapeakeclimate I’m not sure what’s more shocking: the news that the Maryland State Police wrongfully spied on me for months as a “suspected terrorist,” or that, despite surveillance of me, officers apparently wouldn’t recognize me if I walked into their police headquarters […]
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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s HQ is green and gorgeous
Todd and I arrived early at our first D.C.-area appointment, so we wandered down a path leading out of the parking lot (where our Prius was in a “hybrid only” priority spot) and, to our delight, ended up on a sandy beach along the Chesapeake Bay. Shedding our shoes and any stress we might have […]
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Maryland Senator pushes for better transit, efficiency
Since he was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1987, Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has been active on issues such as health care and retirement security. But since making the leap to the Senate less than two years ago, Cardin has emerged as a leader on some of the most nuts-and-bolts elements of policy […]
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Maryland House committee kills climate bill
This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Kari Manlove, fellows assistant at the Center for American Progress.
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After reporting last week on the climate policy progression carving its way through the Maryland Senate, the same measures were defeated in a Maryland House committee this week. Supposedly, the bill was killed by pressure from industry and labor lobbyists, ironically accompanied by steelworkers draped with "Save Our Jobs" t-shirts.
First of all, the United Steelworkers of America Union endorses the Apollo Alliance -- a coalition of labor, business, and environmental groups that collaborate to advocate a clean economy revolution.
Additionally, just last Thursday, a handful of labor unions -- SEIU, UFCW, LIUNA -- declared their support for the legislation in question.
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State’s governor pursuing clean energy and GHG reductions
This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Kari Manlove, fellows assistant at the Center for American Progress.
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Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has prioritized clean energy policy and aims to reduce the state's energy consumption 15 percent by 2015. In addition, Maryland is a part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities.
With those goals topping the governor's agenda, Maryland's Senate chambers have been a hot spot for progressive policy lately, juggling a handful of issues that will become magnified this summer as we launch into the national debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act.