BP Oil Spill

The oil spill in the Gulf is a tragedy. What makes it worse is that it is a tragedy that is still occurring and a tragedy that should never have occurred.

I understand that when you run an oil company, you want your oil rigs to pump out lots of oil. But did they really never think that, hey, we might want an "off" switch? I suspect when all is said and done there will be plenty of blame to go around.

I think it's astounding that politicians from both parties have been preaching the same message of energy independence and reducing the need for foriegn oil for THIRTY years now. The problems are so self-evident and the solutions likewise obvious. Why can I still give the same energy speech that President Carter could have given? More importantly, why hasn't anything been done?

I don't know. But I would like a chance to go to Annapolis and see what I can do about it.

If we had taken the hard steps to reduce our need for oil and begun the transition to clean power in the 1970's, then we would not have the need for offshore rigs like the one currently pumping oil into our waters.

I also heard something amazing this week. President Obama took responsibility for the oil spill clean-up. He said "I am the President and the buck stops with me." Whatever you think of the President, can you even imagine any of our recent presidents taking responsibility for a disaster of this magnitude? That's such a mature, responsible response that I don't usually expect from the government. Politicians like to take credit for things when they go well, but they rarely take the blame, especially not when the crisis is still unfolding.

Mr. President, I salute you and I wish you the best of luck in stopping this disaster.

Personal Clean Energy

I've made the point in other posts how important it is to switch to alternative energy, promote clean power, promote energy efficiency, etc., etc.

I think it's important to practice what you preach. So I wanted to share a little about my families attempts to green up our energy.



The most recent step we've taken is to take advantage of the Maryland law allowing consumers to choose who produces their electricity. We've gone with Clean Currents which will allow us to have 100% wind power generated electricity for 10.8 cents/Kwh. It's a two year contract with the rate locked in. If BGE gets more expensive, it makes us look like geniuses. If BGE rates drop, then we get stuck with the higher bill. The important thing is that we made the choice.

The wind power is not necessarily generated in Maryland. In the small print the wind power may be generated in Texas and we're 'offsetting' coal power in Maryland.

Maryland is an energy deficient state. We use more electricity than we produce. I'd like to see Maryland change that. If government creates the right conditions, I believe that the private markets will take care of the rest.



We also recently had a solar hot water system installed at a total cost of $9,462. We used Solar Energy Services (www.solarsaves.net) based in Millersville. They did good work and they were very helpful with our follow-up questions. We were able to take advantage of tax incentives at all levels of government.
-The federal government gave us a tax credit of about $1,500.
-The Maryland government gave us a solar energy grant of $2,000.
-The Anne Arundel County government gave us a one-time property tax break of about $500.

That's almost 50% of the cost of the system. The rest of the savings comes from our decreased energy bills.

Had it not been for the government creating the right conditions for our family, we would not have been able to switch to wind power or install our solar hot water heater.

Incentives matter. Vote Chiappelli: He practices what he preaches.

Notes from the Campaign Trail

It's been awhile since my last post. I've been busy.

In preparing for this campaign, I spoke with a lot of very smart people and consulted a lot of books. Money is important because money allows you to get your message out to the people.

That's true.

But I've been taking a more personal approach. I'm going to community meetings (send me an email if you know of any that you think I should visit!) and other events. I'm knocking on doors and talking to people one-on-one. People can always look up your record or your position on issues, but I think most people just want to size up the candidate.

I think it was an interesting contrast between the different candidates this weekend at the Riviera Beach parade. The Chiappelli contingent was small. We took our time walking the parade route and handed out our cards to everyone along the way.

Hope to see you soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

I spent today with my wife and my mother trying to thank them for the great job they do every day of the year. My mother's day present to the community was not to be knocking on their doors today.

Mother's have one of the hardest jobs out there. And they don't even get paid.

Our government has a responsibility to support parents. As they say, the children are our future. We already do a lot through our schools, our libraries and our parks. I, for one, enjoy taking my kids to the local parks and libraries.

And if the government can't be helpful to parents, it has the job of getting out of the way and letting parents parent. One area of legislation that I'd like to revisit are the regulations concerning child-care. I support the movement to professionalize daycare providers. Background checks, safety inspections, certifications, etc. But that costs money. We are creating a situation where the people that need childcare the most, the working poor and the middle class, can't afford it. We need to review our laws to make sure that we aren't increasing daycare costs above the level where most people can afford them.

There have been reports of neighbors watching neighbors children and then getting hit with fines from the state. That's not right.

Protect the mothers, protect the children, Vote Chiappelli.