A bill introduced by the Southern Maryland Delegation in Annapolis to put a moratorium on wind turbines on the Eastern Shore has drawn the ire of a coalition of business and environmental groups. The bill (HB 1168) passed in House of Delegates on a 117-17 vote and will be the subject of a hearing before a Senate committee next week.
The bill places a moratorium on the final approval of wind turbines in certain areas of the Chesapeake Bay by Maryland Public Service Commission until July 1, 2015. Several turbines have been proposed in Somerset County, Maryland and the bill will put a pause in the approval process for them.
The bill’s supporters are hoping to protect the test activities at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station from interference. The bill requires any approval process to consider “the interference of the proposed generating station on the maintenance and operation of the Atlantic Test Range utilized by the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and related defense facilities, both as a specific proposal and in combination with other existing and proposed wind-powered generating stations affecting the test range.”
The following press release was issued March 27 by Chesapeake Climate Action Network:
“A group of business, farmer, labor rights, and environmental leaders today announced their strong opposition to legislation they said is intended to shut down most of Maryland’s land-based wind industry and could cost the state up to a billion dollars in lost business and jobs.
“The leaders released an open letter to the Maryland Senate detailing their overwhelming opposition to HB 1168. They contend that the bill, which will go before a Senate committee on Tuesday, April 1, is a patently unnecessary and
