Joining the charge to cut greenhouse gases on the state level, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich signed a bill yesterday to cut pollution from power utilities. He is one of a handful of governors to step forward with global warming initiatives while the federal government has been dithering, and it’s a sign of his enthusiasm for the health and well-being of his citizens.
"It's clear the governor was dragged kicking and screaming to sign this bill, and I think he did it for political expediency," [State Sen. Paul G.] Pinsky said. "He realized what a veto of the Healthy Air Act would do for his re-election efforts."
Or, maybe not. While this remark, which comes from the bill’s sponsor, seems like typical partisan bickering, the governor has not been a supporter of similar measures in the past. As a result, the bill stands as testament to the growing tide of public concern over curbing the effects of global warming. In fact, while the governor did sign the bill, just a few weeks ago he struck a rather different tone...
…[In] a news release issued March 10, Ehrlich warned lawmaker not to vote for the bill. "This bill will dramatically increase the costs of electricity for consumers, force at least one power plant to close, and potentially cause rolling blackouts across Maryland," the governor said.
He continued, “It will also potentially cause teenagers to run wild in the streets, small businessmen to go bankrupt, housewives to defy their spouses, Al Qaeda to infiltrate our churches, God to cast Maryland into the netherworld, and greater tolerance for flag burners.”
His administration has, coincidentally, close ties with Constellation Energy Group, the state's largest owner of power plants, and they worked together to defeat similar measures a year ago.
In March 2005, Ehrlich's deputy environmental secretary, Jonas Jacobson, a former Constellation Energy lobbyist, cheered, "Ain't the beer cold!" in an e-mail to colleagues at the Maryland Department of the Environment when their lobbying helped to kill the "Four Pollutants Bill."
So how’s the beer now, Jonas? Skunked?
Cheers.