Protecting the Bay

Protecting the Chesapeake Bay
Over the past several years, the Governor and the legislature has worked to clean up the Bay including passing legislation to create the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund; enhancing the Bay's natural oyster population; strengthening the Critical Areas law and establishing aquaculture enterprise zones to restore the Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay is Maryland's crown jewel. We all agree that maintaining the health of the Bay is important to our State. To that end, the legislature has funded the Trust Fund at $20 million for the coming fiscal year, as well as retained a fund balance in the Fund for existing projects.

Accelerating Maryland Solar Energy Use
In order to spur investment in Maryland's burgeoning industrial and residential solar industry, the General Assembly passed Governor O'Malley's legislation to require electricity suppliers to accelerate the amount solar energy in the electricity they supply to Marylanders. This legislation will supplement the State's clean energy supply and help stimulate new green jobs for Marylanders.

This legislation will accelerate Maryland's Solar Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements in 2011 through 2017, resulting in more residential and commercial solar installations in those years. It will make the phase-in of the Solar RPS more evenly distributed over the next decade and provide long-term support for Maryland's growing solar industry. This change will put the State's solar goals in line with New Jersey and Delaware. Additional solar energy in Maryland will decrease peak load electricity prices in the summertime, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by displacing fossil-fueled powered generation, create new green jobs, and help Maryland meet its renewable energy goals.