With lawmakers on the fence about one of his signature legislative issues this year, Gov. Martin O'Malley today made the case that investing in offshore wind would help create jobs in the short term and stabilize energy rates over the long run.
The Democratic governor urged the General Assembly to pass his offshore wind plan because "if we don't make the right choices," he said, fossil fuels will continue to rise, global warming will continue and other states will jump ahead in the country's relatively new push to harness wind for electricity.
O'Malley spoke at Annapolis' City Dock, surrounded by environmental activists and building trades workers who stand to benefit from new jobs if the state adopts a plan to build and install steel wind turbines more than 10 miles off the coast of Ocean City.
But lawmakers have been reluctant about the plan and its associated costs, which would be passed along to utility customers across the state. Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton, chairman of the Senate committee considering the proposal, recently suggested it may need a study before lawmakers embrace it.
To allay fears about rate increases, O'Malley today suggested an amendment limiting the added cost to a maximum of $2 per month in the first year. Sen. Paul Pinsky, who has pushed for wind energy the past two years, said he's not sure if the one-year cap would be enough to move the bill forward.
Less than three weeks remain in the 2011 legislative session.