The Baltimore Sun was right to criticize Gov. Larry Hogan’s plan to invest millions in natural gas (“Is a $103 million expansion of natural gas service the best Md. can do?” Feb. 26). It would be wrong to lock our state in to a fuel whose byproduct is dirty climate-warming methane, which as The Sun pointed out, is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
I would like to make a plea to our Maryland state legislators: Please combat Governor Hogan’s fracked gas plans by passing the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2018 this year. Rather than “kick-starting” an expansion of more fracked-gas infrastructure, we have the opportunity to continue expanding solar and wind energy infrastructure in Maryland.
I relocated back to Harford County in 2013 after living for years in Germany and the Netherlands. Clean renewable energy industries have matured in these countries and now count for a significant portion of their respective nation’s energy needs. I would love Maryland to be one of the leaders in the United States in the clean energy sector for the economic and health benefits for the citizens of this great state.
Harford County has 270 solar jobs already, and this number can grow! Under the proposed legislation, increasing the solar carve-out from 2.5 percent to 14.5 percent would support over 20,000 solar jobs with good pay. Growth from wind power in our region could also stimulate roughly 4,600 direct jobs including engineers and construction workers. With the support from climate leaders, like my delegate, Mary Ann Lisanti, who supports strong climate policy, we can ensure that Maryland can move forward for a clean renewable energy future.
Steve Preston, Abingdon