Holy (Green) Crap

The mayor, along with the co-sponsorship or every (sworn in) alderman except Hoyle and Stankivic, introduced an omnibus environmental bill under the guise of the revised plastic bag ban. I say 'guise' because it is a totally different bill, bearing no resemblance to the original. O-27-07 revised'D' seeks to promote recycling, which is quite better than banning plastic bags, but it does a lot more than that! I mean a lot more!! The bill would:

-Establish an Environmental Review Committee comprised of the Directors of
Rec and Parks, Public Works, Central Services, and DNEP, the last of which will
chair the group.

-Align Annapolis city purchasing to standards outlined in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Comprehensive procurement guides for
products.

-Specify standards for procurement of environmentally friendly materials,
including photocopy paper, print paper, janitorial paper, cleaning supplies, CFC
refrigerants, plastic bags, wood products, electronics, motor oil, recycled
antifreeze for city vehicles, paint, pest management supplies, and according to
the bill, these are the "minimum"!

-By law, by next year, have the Committee issue green procurement
standards for EVERYTHING in the above bullet point AND MORE, and give preference to said items even if they are up to 10% more expensive than what is currently being used.

-(whoops, I just got dizzy)

-Require ALL city funded construction to meet Silver LEED
environmental building standards

-Give procurement preference to items from suppliers located within a
"reasonable" geographic distance.

This makes me a little bit crazy. I am of the belief that the affect we can have on global warming is overstated. I am not interested in debating this, but for curiosity's sake of anybody reading this, a small part of why I believe such is that Al Gore said this:

Nobody is interested in solutions if they don't think there's a
problem. Given that starting point, I believe it is appropriate to have an
over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous (global warming)
is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions
are...

...former Vice President Al Gore(now, chairman and co-founder of
Generation Investment Management-- a London-based business that sells carbon
credits)(in interview with Grist Magazine May 9, 2006, concerning his book, An
Inconvenient Truth)

So, I'll put it to you. Do you believe in the human threat to detrimental climate change enough to accept 10% (minimum) increases in the $80 million city budget that already goes up by 8% each year. If so, encourage your alderman to vote for this bill. If not, start writing a blog and move to the county!

Mayor Moyer Seeks To Impose New Green Building Requirements

As reported, the mayor is seeking to impose new building requirements based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system:

Mayor Ellen O. Moyer introduced a bill to City Council Monday
requiring all new construction and major renovations of any buildings greater
than 10,000 square feet meet green building standards set by the Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, rating system. The move would make Annapolis one of the few areas in the region to demand such requirements.

Single-family homes also are included in the bill, requiring that all new
construction and major modifications to homes within the city meet at least the
lowest LEED standards, as well.

Folks, this stuff is expensive. First, home prices will go up, as will commercial rents, which we will pay for in the form of higher prices. Also, we will no doubt have to fund another inspector in city government to make sure all of the buildings are meeting the new green code.

Conservatives are wary of all government spending to begin with, but we certainly demand that our taxes are used to actually accomplish the stated goal. In the case of reducing our carbon footprint, there is absolutely no way to enjoy such a guarantee.

There is certainly not consensus about climate warming. The very measurements we use to determine climate patterns may not be reliable, and even given a pattern of warming, the link between human effect on this warming is debated. It takes a great deal of arrogance to accept that a couple of generations of humans can alter the cyclical climate patterns that have been going on for tens of thousands of years. Aren't we still coming out of an ice age? For a great post on this subject, click here.

Liberals, especially Mayor Moyer, disregard any debate on the issue and accept the responsibility of humans to challenge mother nature as their divine birthright. And we pay the price. Think of how many small businesses will shut down because they cannot afford to implement the new designs. Now think of how they will feel in 50 years when it is determined that the LEED designs have no impact on climate change!

Such issues deserve consideration when so much of our money is being thrown at the "problem".