In the first-ever demonstration of its kind in Annapolis, about 400 Marylanders joined hands Monday to form a “circle of support” around the State House in a hopeful call for final passage of the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act (HB 441/ SB 237).
Equipped with eco-friendly glow-in-the-dark miniature wind turbines, hand-made banners and signs, and wearing electric blue t-shirts, citizens gathered at the State House to call on lawmakers to move the bill out of the Senate this week after the House voted 88-47 for the measure on Friday.
Governor O’Malley addressed the crowd and encouraged the General Assembly to pass the bill. Other speakers included Delegate McHale, a Prince George’s County small business owner, a registered nurse, a student from Johns Hopkins University, and a Prince George’s County pastor.
Advocates formed a symbolic, glowing, uplifting circle of hundreds of people, creating a dramatic vision for clean energy. Neither activists nor lawmakers can remember a time when the State House has been encircled in such a way.
