Groups to push O'Malley on environment

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Environmental groups poured thousands of dollars and worked the phones to help get Democrat Martin O'Malley elected governor. Now they're looking for Maryland's next governor to steer changes in how the state approaches growth, Chesapeake Bay restoration and other environmental concerns.

Betsy Johnson, chairwoman of the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club, said her group sent 17,000 newsletters to state members backing O'Malley, who defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich. Sierra Club volunteers canvassed the state rallying support for O'Malley and helped staff phone banks for the Democrat. So, as the Baltimore mayor prepares a course for the next four years, Johnson said, he'd be wise to consider the help he got from environmental activists.

"We would like a governor who actually supports us," Johnson said.

The wish list for environmentalists is long, and not all agree what the priorities should be. But there was consensus from environmental activists and an O'Malley spokesman that the next four years will likely see a new emphasis on reducing sprawl, preserving undeveloped land and reducing carbon emissions in an attempt to address global warming.

"We are all watching," to see whether O'Malley fulfills promises to be a greener governor than Ehrlich, said Brad Heavner, director of Environment Maryland, a nonprofit group that did not endorse either candidate.

One topic that will likely make news in coming years is revival of a proposal to require cleaner cars. A handful of states, including California and Pennsylvania, require car manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of hybrid fuel or low-emission vehicles. Some states also impose stricter emissions standards than required by the federal government.

The Maryland legislature has considered, but not approved, similar rules. Delegate Maggie McIntosh, a Democrat who leads the House Environmental Matters Committee, said she expected a clean cars bill to get new consideration in coming years.

McIntosh said residents should also expect more discussion about growth and planning. The legislature would likely consider tighter rules preventing local governments from allowing development on farmland, she said.

"My hope is the new administration looks at areas such as planning and realizes a lot of small communities do not have capacity to do planned growth," she said.

O'Malley was not available for comment, but spokesman Rick Abbruzzese, said the new governor is serious about stepping up environmental protection. Voters should expect to see new people leading state agencies that deal with the environment.

Abbruzzese also mentioned plans to revive the Office of Smart Growth started by former Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening and plans to start regular meetings of all agencies whose work affects the environment to keep tabs on the health of the Chesapeake, called BayStat.

"I think over the next four years you will see Gov.-elect O'Malley stake a really aggressive posture toward the environment," Abbruzzese said.
Political analysts weren't so sure that O'Malley's environmentalism played a big role in his win. They said a Democrat would probably be perceived as more environment-friendly than Ehrlich anyway, so O'Malley doesn't have far to go to appease groups that supported him.
"I think the environment was only a light boost to (O'Malley's) credibility to folks who would already be very likely to vote for him anyway," said Dan Nataf, a political scientist at Anne Arundel Community College who polled voters on their top concerns.

Nataf said few voters are keenly interested in technical aspects of air and water quality, so voters may not have seen stark differences between O'Malley and Ehrlich. O'Malley promised to preserve money designated to preserve open space; Ehrlich talked up his "flush tax" that added a fee to sewage bills to pay for expensive upgrades to wastewater treatment plants. The candidates were probably about equal on the environment in the minds of most voters with no keen interest in the topic, Nataf said.

"There was no great advantage one way or the other," he said.

Another political scientist, Howard Ernst of the U.S Naval Academy, said Ehrlich wasn't the environmental disaster some feared. That left less fuel for pro-O'Malley environmentalists.

"It would be a stretch to say that Martin O'Malley won the election on the environmental vote," said Ernst, author of "Chesapeake Bay Blues," which examines how politics affects bay restoration.

"The verdict is still out on O'Malley. It is far too early to tell if his administration will craft legislation to match his campaign rhetoric and his green campaign signs," Ernst said.

Environmental activists hope their work for O'Malley will lead to bigger clout in Annapolis over the next four years.

"The last four years, from an environmental prospective, we had to fight for everything we gained," said Cindy Schwartz, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. Her group spent about $100,000 campaigning for O'Malley and launched a Web site called "Stop Sprawl, Stop Ehrlich."

Schwartz said she thinks the environment did play a role in O'Malley's win, noting that a constitutional amendment tightening rules on the sale of state open space fared better with voters than either gubernatorial candidate.

"When you look at the amount of talk there was on the campaign trail about the environment, it was a factor," Schwartz said. "They have to consider these issues because they do matter to the public."