Dear Friend:
With the legislative
session in full-swing, I wanted to update you on several of my bills
to promote a cleaner, healthier and more energy-efficient Maryland:
Clean
Cars Act
The Maryland Clean Cars Act received overwhelming support in both
the House and Senate. The bill passed both chambers and only needs
slight revisions to settle small differences in the bills. Governor
O’Malley has pledged to sign the final piece of legislation.
The legislation will reduce the amount of gases that contribute to
global warming, cut the amount of air pollutants that can cause cancer
and other serious ailments, and reduce the amount of vehicle emissions
that eventually end up in the Chesapeake Bay and other Maryland waterways.
I am pleased by the overwhelming support that this legislation has
received and I look forward to seeing Governor O’Malley sign
the bill into law.
Read
my op-ed
on the Clean Cars Act in the Gazette
Read
about the bill in the Baltimore Sun
 |
Amy
Marasco Newton, President of the Newton Marasco Foundation,
Senator Brian Frosh and Delegate Jane Lawton at the Rachel Carson
celebration kick-off event in Annapolis |
Rachel
Carson Day
Tuesday kicked
off a two-month-long celebration of the life of Rachel Carson. Author
of “Silent Spring” and mother of the environmental movement,
Carson spent most of her life in Maryland. She studied at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, taught zoology at the University of Maryland
and completed most of her writing from her Silver Spring home. I have
introduced a bill that would declare May 27, her birthday, as Rachel
Carson Day. This year marks the 100th anniversary of her birth. The
Newton Marasco Foundation, which sponsored the kick-off event, is
holding a number of events to commemorate her life and her work including
performances of a play, “A Sense of Wonder,” about Carson’s
life. The Foundation also is holding a Rachel Carson Scholars contest
for high school juniors and seniors who show an interest in the environment.
Read
about the commemoration of Rachel Carson in The
Washington Post and the Baltimore
Sun
For more information on events to commemorate Rachel Carson, visit
the Newton
Marasco Foundation web site
Phosphorus
in Dishwashing Detergent
Another piece of pollutant-reducing legislation would require a reduction
in the amount of phosphorous in dishwashing detergent sold in Maryland.
The bill would limit the amount of phosphorous in dishwashing machine
detergent to a half percent, down from the seven percent currently
allowed. Dishwashing detergent eventually makes it way into the Chesapeake
Bay and the phosphorous contained in the soap contributes to oxygen
deprivation and dead zones in the Bay. The Education, Health and Environmental
Affairs heard testimony on this bill on March 2.
Read
about the bill in The Washington Post
Energy Efficiency
A fourth piece of legislation, versions of which I have introduced
in previous legislative sessions, concerns energy efficiency and conservation.
This energy efficiency bill has two elements. First, it requires electric
utility companies to adopt cost-effective, energy efficiency and conservation
measures that will reduce residential retail energy usage 12 percent
by 2016. Second, it directs the Public Service Commission, when writing
the rules implementing this requirement, to explore ways to make energy
conservation as attractive to utility companies as energy sales. That
way, utility companies will not face structural impediments that would
hinder adoption of these conservation measures. The companion House
bill has received preliminary approval and the Senate bill is being
considered in the Finance Committee.
I
will keep you up-to-date on these issues as well as other legislation
as the session continues. Until then, please feel free to contact
me with your thoughts, opinions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Brian
E. Frosh
