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February 17th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The drive push an offshore wind energy bill through the Maryland Legislature has picked up two lobbying groups in the past week.
Here’s a look at the latest surrounding the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2012.
* The bill, also known as Senate Bill 237/House Bill 441, would incentivize building wind farms in the 80,000 acres 12 miles off of Ocean City that have been designated for leasing.
* Governor Martin O’Malley lobbied lawmakers on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. He pressed the health benefits of wind energy and possible transmission grid congestion charge savings on out-of-state electricity imports. Democrats say this bill has a better chance of gaining their support than last year’s, due to questions of propriety regarding the previous deal.
* O’Malley’s chief of staff was the managing director of an energy firm that may have benefited from the proposal, but the company is no longer involved.
* A mandate requiring utilities to buy wind power at a set price much higher than the current market rates has been pulled from out of last year’s version of the bill, in hopes of attracting more votes.
* The plan is expected to create 1,800 construction jobs and increase electricity production, but will likely add to Marylander’s monthly bills from 2017 through 2037.
* The Point News, a St. Mary’s news source, reported on Tuesday that students are gearing up to show their support for offshore energy. SEAC, Saint Mary’s Student Environmental Action Coalition and the Maryland Student Climate Coalition are joining for a rally on February 22 at 10:30 at the Lawyers Mall in Annapolis to lobby in favor of the bill.
* SEAC had sponsored a petition circulated among students to show their support for the bill.
* The Gazette reported on Monday that a coalition of 36 Prince George’s County clergy, including ministers, nuns, priests, rabbis, and an imam, want their county legislators to sign the bill on the basis of morality. The group pointed to power plants and coal ash dumps being located in areas that impact “poor persons and persons of color”, as Reverend Kip Banks Sr., pastor of East Washington Heights Baptist Church said.
* Maryland electricity suppliers are required, according to the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard found on the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), to derive a minimum portion of their retail sales from renewables. By 2022, that standard is 20 percent.
Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and lives near Washington D.C. in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
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