FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2011

Contact:
Mike Tidwell, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-460-5838

Jamie Nolan, jamie@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-396-2022

Activists Issue Letter to MD House Speaker and Senate President: Pass Offshore Wind Bill in 2012 for Jobs and Health

Town hall meetings and polling data help build momentum for O’Malley initiative

ANNAPOLIS – A diverse coalition of wind power supporters today asked top General Assembly leaders to join Gov. Martin O’Malley in passing landmark legislation in 2012 to create a wind farm off the coast of Ocean City, MD. The formal letter to leaders comes as polling data shows Marylanders strongly support investments in offshore wind power and as activists wrap up a statewide series of packed town hall meetings with a final meeting in Baltimore County last night.

“The wind is at our backs,” said Jim Strong, Sub District Director of the United Steelworkers of Maryland. “And 2012 is the year for offshore wind power. It’s time for leaders in Annapolis to bring thousands of good jobs to our state while protecting our health and fighting climate change.”

Concerned leaders from Maryland’s labor, faith, health, conservation, education, minority enterprise, business development, grocery, and women’s advocacy communities signed the letter on wind power addressed to Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, Jr. and Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch. Signers from the diverse coalition ranged from Episcopal Bishop Eugene Sutton to Susan Jones of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association to Joe Gaskins, a minority enterprise educator in the state.

The letter points out that one moderate-sized offshore wind farm would create 2,400 new jobs and save the state $4 billion in avoided health costs from pollution. The letter also highlights the results of an October Gonzales poll showing that 62 percent of Maryland voters are ready to invest in offshore wind power right now.

“Rarely are so many voters and interest groups unified behind one legislative push,” said Karla Raettig, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. “Offshore wind will benefit all Marylanders for generations to come if our leaders do the right thing in 2012.”

Gov. O’Malley sponsored legislation during the 2011 General Assembly that would have incentivized construction of over 100 offshore wind turbines in Atlantic waters, but the bill never came up for a vote as lawmakers decided to study the matter further during the summer and fall of 2011.

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Marylanders for Offshore Wind includes the United Steelworkers of Maryland, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Maryland League of Women Voters, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland, Maryland Sierra Club, the Business Coalition for Maryland Offshore Wind, National Wildlife Federation, Environment Maryland, and Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light.