Consider signing on to this letter!

Friends,

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is seeking signatures on this letter.  There will also be lobbying opportunties and a rally.  I will keep you informed as details are finalized.  If you are willing to sign on, let me know.  Ideally, CCAN is seeking organizations to sign on, but will accept individual signatures.  Thanks for giving this consideration.

Kagiso,

Max

Maryland Offshore Wind Coalition Letter

January 2011

Dear Maryland Legislators:

We respectfully urge you to support passage of strong legislation in 2011 that will bring offshore wind power to Maryland as soon as possible, including new jobs, stable energy prices, and cleaner air.

Our neighbors in Delaware have already passed legislation in 2006 and 2008 that laid the way for a major offshore wind park that is awaiting federal approval. This past summer, New Jersey’s governor signed legislation that will promote offshore wind in his state. Maryland cannot fall behind.

Offshore wind is one of America’s greatest untapped energy resources. The achievable wind capacity off our coasts is nearly 900,000 megawatts, nearly enough to meet the entire country’s current electricity needs. Capturing even a fraction of this potential will yield dramatic benefits for our nation’s energy security and the environment. A 2010 study sponsored by the Abell Foundation found that offshore wind power in Maryland could provide the equivalent of two-thirds our state’s current electric load.

Yet, despite the huge potential for offshore wind, this resource remains entirely untapped.  Aggressively developing Maryland’s offshore wind resources could lead to the creation of more than 15,000 jobs over the next 20 years and would enable us to meet our clean energy requirement of 20% renewable energy by 2022.

Offshore wind power has multiple benefits:

•  Reliable jobs: Wind will help our local economies by providing jobs in manufacturing, operations, and maintenance. It will also promote tourism in coastal areas by allowing tourist destinations to advertise themselves as powered by clean energy.

•  Reliable prices: Wind will stabilize utility rates by providing power over the long term at consistent rates that are not subject to the volatile prices of fossil fuels.

•  Reliable supply: Wind will decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.

•  Reliable environment: Wind is pollution-free, thereby cutting down on harmful greenhouse gases and other health-hazardous emissions.

Again, we respectfully urge you to support passing strong legislation in 2011 that will bring offshore wind power to Maryland. As financing is a critical component to an offshore wind project, a bill should include a provision for utilities to sign long-term contracts for offshore wind power to satisfy a small portion of each utility’s total power supply.

The states that lead on offshore wind will be the first states to benefit from all that offshore wind has to offer.

Sincerely,

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

 

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs