Continuing Maryland’s energy boom
By Mike Tidwell, The Washington Post.
Trivia question: What governor signed the first legislation in Maryland to boost solar energy from a cottage industry to a major business in the state? Was it liberal Democrat Parris Glendening? Current Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat? Or conservative Republican Robert Ehrlich?
The answer is Ehrlich, he of the Grand Old Party. In 2004, he signed the wonky-sounding Renewable Portfolio Standard Act. That bill required, for the first time, that a small percentage of Maryland’s electricity come from clean, renewable energy.