Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to seek legislative approval of more incentives to promote renewable energy in the General Assembly session that begins today.

In an interview published in today's Baltimore Sun, the governor said he's given up on re-regulating the electric power industry, but wants to "update" the state's coastal zoning law to make it easier for wind turbines to be placed off Maryland's Atlantic shoreline. 

The law was adopted to protect fragile coastal areas from development, so it'll be interesting to see how far the administration wants to go in promoting offshore wind.  The administration and lawmakers teamed up a few years ago to shield smaller land-based wind farms from environmental review after developers complained about delays and conditions being put on their projects in western Maryland.  That's decried by some conservationists, who fear mountaintop wind will fragment and destroy rare species habitat and harm bats and migratory birds.   Other environmentalists willingly accept those tradeoffs in hopes wind farms will ease dependence on coal for power.

The governor also wants to strengthen the requirements for development of solar energy, and to provide up to $2,000 tax breaks for consumers to buy electric cars. There aren't any on the market yet, but Chrysler and Nissan are on the verge of rolling out models.  For more on the state's renewable energy efforts, see the latest report from the Maryland Energy Administration here.  With about 4.5 percent of the power generated in the state now coming from renewable souces, the state's goal is to have 20 percent by 2022.

Other than that, there's little environmental likely from the O'Malley administration in this 90-day legislative session, largely because of the severe budget crunch the state is in. Environmentalists likewise are lowering their sights, hoping mainly just to shield environmental and conservation programs from major budget cuts - and to fend off measures that might weaken or delay existing environmental laws.  There is likely to be an effort by some groups, though, to provide more incentives for transit-oriented development.

More later on the environmental outlook for the 90-day session in Annapolis.

(Baltimore Sun photo)