Poli-Chic Maryland

Scholars at the University of Maryland recently did a study on Maryland’s Smart Growth laws and reported that in many ways, they have not been effective.  One reason cited to the fact that not enough incentives are offered to developers and builders for building downtown.

One incentive that has been effective is the Maryland Historic Tax Credit.  Unfortunately, without action from the Maryland General Assembly, the program will expire next year.

While legislation was introduced last year, it failed to pass before the end of session.  One of the main points of contention was how much funding any one jurisdiction should be allowed to receive (75% being the magic threshold).  I think we should spread the tax credits across the state focusing on areas where there is an urge to “control growth” (i.e. the Eastern Shore) and downtown areas that are in the process of revitalizing (i.e. – Cambridge, Frederick, Takoma Park, Denton, Berlin and other Main Street Maryland towns).  Unfortunately these areas might not have enough political clout in an election year to argue for an equal share.  

More importantly, I think the program is too effective to let lapse and this will definitely be an issue of interest in the 2010 Legislative Session.

The fate of Maryland’s poultry industry seems to be lying in the hands of one man – Chuck Fox, a Senior Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency.

While we all want a cleaner Chesapeake Bay, EPA’s pending regulations for Maryland are unrealistic and fail to consider both the economics and the environment of our State.

First the economics:  Aside from being a $2 billion a year industry, the poultry industry employs 14,500 people on the Delmarva Peninsula alone.  For every job in poultry processing, seven more jobs are created.

Next the environment:  Five other states in our watershed will also be subject to poultry regulations from EPA, but Maryland’s regulations will be tougher.  That would make sense if it meant we were going to get more bang for our buck, but the Delmarva Peninsula accounts for less than 8% of the land area in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  US Geological Survey reports that the Susquehanna, the Potomac, and the James Rivers contributed 95% of the Nitrogen load and about 87% of the Phosphorus load each year.  More importantly, if you force farmers to sell the family farm, you will lose that land to development.  Think it won’t happen?  Just ask the farmers who are trying to get financing for their businesses right now.

The truth of the matter is, tougher regulations for Maryland farmers will have little or no environmental impact on the Chesapeake Bay, but will have great impact on our economy.  Governor O’Malley, the Maryland Farm Bureau and many elected officials have expressed their opposition to Maryland being singled out in this way.   Unfortunately, things don’t usually work out very well when a fox is in charge of guarding a hen house.  For Maryland’s sake, I hope things turn out differently this time.

Today was World AIDS Day. Not the most pleasant topic to begin the month of December, but a topic that needs to be talked about.

According to the World Health Organization at the end of 2008, 33.4 million people were living with HIV and two-thirds of the world’s HIV infections are in sub-Saharan Africa.

With statistics like that, it’s easy to retreat from the issue and regard it as someone else’s problem – until you consider the fact that right in our backyard, in our nation’s capital, AIDS has reached epidemic proportions. In March, the Washington Post reported that 3% of DC residents are HIV positive and that statistic is based on the reported cases.

It’s also easy to lack sympathy for consenting adults who are engaging in risky, promiscuous behavior. However, it’s much harder to ignore the 2 million children under the age of 15 who are living with AIDS today. It’s also hard to ignore the fact that millions of children are orphaned each year because of it.

The fact of the matter is that HIV/AIDS is everyone’s problem. It knows no socio-economic boundaries and no geographic boundaries. It’s not limited by race, religion or social status. The remedy to this problem should be the same and government should work toward making it that way.

Universal access to medications and anti-retroviral treatments combined with massive education campaigns could make all of the difference. And yes, the conservative Republican in me thinks that abstinence and monogamy have an important role to play in those education campaigns.

I realize that all of this is easier said than done (I’m reminded of the West Wing episode titled “In This Whitehouse”). I also realize that the issue won’t be solved in a day. But in the meantime, we should keep talking about it – even if it’s not a pleasant topic – and we should continue to push for solutions, both at home and abroad, that will combat and prevent this terrible epidemic.