The stakes for Maryland are high. We’ve been moving in a direction that’s simply not sustainable.

Even critics can’t deny that Maryland has a limited amount of land. For decades now, the rate of land consumption has been triple the rate of population growth, consuming more than a million acres of farms and forests since the 1970’s – one and a half times the amount of land developed between the establishment of the colony and 1973.

If we don’t use a smarter approach to growth, it is estimated that we will need an additional $29 billion in road and school construction over the next 25 years just to keep pace with current trends. We’ll also undermine the public and private investments we have already made to restore the health of the Bay. Simply put, we cannot afford to keep chasing every strip mall and townhouse project with roads, sewers and utilities.

By implementing the smart growth principles in PlanMaryland, we can save Maryland taxpayers $1.5 billion each year in infrastructure costs. This smarter growth approach can also help us accommodate the 1 million additional residents, 500,000 new homes and 600,000 new jobs that experts project for Maryland by 2035.

We pay for sprawl not just in tax dollars, but also in time wasted sitting in traffic jams, in air polluted by automobiles and water fouled by runoff from impervious surfaces.

PlanMaryland will not take away local planning and zoning authority or impose burdensome regulations on development. But Governor O’Malley’s plan makes it clear that state dollars will no longer finance poor planning decisions and the resulting pollution and traffic congestion.

I support PlanMaryland because I want my children and their children to enjoy the quality of life that Maryland residents enjoy today.

I was recently interviewed by the Senior Chesapeake Bay Scientists and Policymakers about “What’s It Going to Take?” to finally clean up Chesapeake Bay. See my thoughts in video above, part of a continuing series on what it’s going to take to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

For employees who take public transportation to the Whole Foods on River Road, their commute means hopping two buses once they leave the Bethesda Metro station.

But on a bike, the commute would be a quick, breezy trip down the Capital Crescent Trail.

The River Road Whole Foods is joining what is becoming a ringing chorus of community support for Capital BikeShare in the Bethesda area, following on the heels of successful models in Arlington and the District.

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The program would be modeled after Washington, D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare. Capital Bikeshare was the first ever bikeshare system in the nation and it’s based on an ingenious idea. There are more than 1,121 bikes at 116 locations in the District of Columbia and Arlington, Virginia. Riders can simply pick up a bike from one station and then conveniently return it to any of the other locations within the two cities.

Capital Bikeshare started in 2008 with only 120 bikes. Just three years later, it has expanded tenfold. People primarily use bikeshare to commute to work, but bike rentals are also quite common for short trips and errands. The program’s highly flexible rental options accommodate a variety of needs with sign-ups available for one year, a month, five days or just one day.

Like Capital Bikeshare, the goal is to expand Bethesda’s bikeshare program into other communities, making bike rentals accessible and affordable for all Montgomery County residents. I’m currently pushing for government funding through a federal transportation grant or a bond bill that could initially help us introduce the first several stations as soon as possible. But I’m also working with David Dabney of the Bethesda Urban Partnership to find corporate partners and sponsorships to fund the installation of additional stations across Montgomery County. And if all goes as well, the county could see as many as 200 bikes and 20 stations within a year.

I think it’s important to make this happen. With the Crescent Trail right next door, a shortage of parking in downtown Bethesda, and increased traffic congestion projected this fall from thousands of additional cars near the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, this is certainly an ideal location for a bikeshare program.

I bike to work in Bethesda almost every day. It’s a great way to sneak some exercise into a busy day. And if more people had cheap, easy access, more of them would ride bikes. The result would be fewer people on the roads and less pollution. It would be a big win for Montgomery County across the board.

More Bethesda commuters will have the option of trading in four wheels for two if funding is approved for a downtown bikeshare program.

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A new commuting option could be coming to Bethesda in the near future. The Bethesda Urban Partnership has been pushing for a Capital Bikeshare program like those in Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va. If all goes well, Bethesda could see the installation of the first Bikeshare station by spring.

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Natural gas offers tremendous opportunity. It is the cleanest burning fossil fuel and can heat homes, run utilities, power vehicles, and potentially help free the nation from reliance on foreign oil. It also promises significant economic benefits for western Maryland, as large reserves rest under parts of Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties.

While the benefits are potentially huge, so are the environmental risks. To free the gas, companies pump a toxic cocktail of chemicals, sand and water into the ground under high pressure to fracture, or “frack,” the rock formations. Hydraulic fracturing is a complicated process with many inherent challenges. Pennsylvania has had major problems with drinking water contamination due to faulty gas wells. There have been thousands of environmental violations, spills, explosions and fires, and consequent air pollution. Communities have to put up with round-the-clock industrial activity along with wastewater storage pits that smell like sewage. Partially treated wastewater has also been released into rivers upstream from drinking water intake pipes, a situation that threatens even people who live well away from the area above the Marcellus Shale—but well within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Although the challenges and risks are real, I am optimistic we can address these problems in ways that will allow safe access to natural gas. But since oil and gas drilling are partially exempt from important federal environmental laws, it is up to Maryland to insist on adequate protections.

To protect people and resources, Gov. Martin O’Malley signed an Executive Order establishing the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative. The Order requires the Maryland Departments of the Environment and Natural Resources, in consultation with an advisory commission that includes scientists, industry groups, environmental organizations, local businesses and citizens, to undertake an in-depth study of drilling for natural gas in Western Maryland. The task force will study both short- and long-term risks to water quality, and assess the effect of drilling on forests and natural habitats. It will also examine the risks of traffic accidents and damage to roads and bridges, the long-term effects on state resources and recreational lands, and economic impacts to the region and state.

In a series of three reports, the task force will convey its findings and propose recommendations, essentially creating a blueprint for how, when and who can have access to the state’s natural gas reserves. This study, similar to what I proposed in Senate Bill 643, will provide essential information before moving forward with any drilling in the state.

I applaud the governor and his administration for taking this step to ensure that we have the proper safeguards in place before the first drill bit hits the Shale. We must not give oil and gas companies unbridled freedoms at the expense of a safe environment for families and communities in Maryland.

The fruit of a third of the work done by state agencies, organizations and fisheries to restore the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay is being stolen through illegal harvesting, according to biologists who research oyster beds in the bay.

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The Budget: Despite a sluggish economic recovery and the end of federal stimulus dollars, the General Assembly adopted a balanced budget of $34.1 billion for fiscal year 2012 that makes long-term improvements to the state’s fiscal picture. While the budget makes some cuts in local aid, health care provider payments, and state employee take-home pay and retirement benefits, it also protects key priorities. It preserves our investments in education, maintaining $1.2 billion in funding for state colleges and universities while increasing aid to public schools by $56.1 million. The legislature also generated new revenues by increasing the sales tax on alcohol to 9 percent, with $15 million of the new revenues going to programs for the developmentally disabled.

Pepco: Legislation passed requiring the Public Service Commission to establish reliability standards for electric utilities and to assess financial penalties on companies that fail to meet the standards. I was able to convince the Senate to set stiff penalties: 2.5 percent of a utility’s transmission and distribution revenues. But the House refused to agree, and the penalty was put at $25,000 per violation, per day—financial costs that utilities cannot pass along to consumers. While higher than the current penalty, it is still not nearly high enough in my opinion.

Wine Shipments: After years of debate, the legislature approved direct wine purchases by consumers from wineries; the measure allows consumers to buy up to 18 cases a year directly from Maryland and out-of-state wineries.

Vehicle Safety: Closing a loophole in current law, new legislation prohibits a driver from reading text messages while the vehicle is in a road’s travel lane; this means that writing, sending, and reading text messages are now all banned, even while stopped at a red light. In other action, the General Assembly authorized localities to install cameras on school buses to record license plates of vehicles that pass a bus illegally. A third bill mandates use of ignition interlock devices for first-time drunken driving offenders with exceptionally high blood-alcohol levels, for people with alcohol convictions within the previous five years, or for drivers under 21 years of age with blood-alcohol levels of .02 or above.

Health Care Exchange: Legislation passed to establish the Maryland Health Benefits Exchange, required under the Federal Health Care Reform Act and funded with federal funds. This exchange will provide major benefits to many Marylanders who need insurance; it is scheduled to be in operation by January 1, 2014.

Higher Education: All graduates of Maryland high schools who are residents and whose parents have paid taxes for at least three years will now be able to pay in-state tuition to attend their local community colleges. Those successfully completing two years or 60 credit hours in community college will be eligible for in-state tuition at public four-year colleges and universities.

BPA: I was delighted that the General Assembly enacted my legislation to prohibit Bisphenol A (BPA) in infant formula containers. BPA has long been thought to have links to breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and hyperactivity.

The Environment: Bills I sponsored will deliver a blow to the serious poaching problem hurting Maryland fisheries. The bills allow the Department of Natural Resources to inspect fish holding areas in vessels, vehicles, and businesses, as well as revoke poachers’ licenses through an administrative hearing process. Other legislation boosts penalties up to a year in jail and $25,000 in fines for fishing without a license.

Medical Marijuana: Legislation that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana for people with debilitating medical conditions won approval this session. The bill also establishes a study over the interim to determine the best way for the state to establish a limited medical-marijuana program.

Tenants’ Rights: The General Assembly approved legislation that significantly alters current landlord/tenant law in Maryland. The bill cracks down on retaliatory evictions and reforms the evictions process, a big step forward for tenants.

Elections: In a move to make it easier for Maryland to comply with new federal requirements for overseas absentee ballots, the General Assembly moved up the gubernatorial primary date from September to June. The state’s presidential primary date also moves from February to April, due to new rules adopted by the Democratic and Republican National Committees that ban primaries prior to the first Tuesday in March, with a few exceptions.

I remain ever grateful to the people who take the time to contact me about issues before the General Assembly. I hope you will continue to share your views with me now that the legislative session is over.

All the best for a good spring and summer.

A bevy of poaching bills is making its way through the House and Senate, highlighting divisions among lawmakers who are trying to address poaching problems in different ways.

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