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.

Jefferson-Jackson dinner

Tonight was the night of the Jefferson Jackson Dinner which is the biggest event of the year for the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee. It was a good time.

The keynote speaker was Governor Martin O'Malley. He raised a lot of good points. Even though the nation is in the midst of the Great Recession, Maryland has the highest rated public school system in the nation. Maryland has the largest increase in jobs of all the states and, consequently, the lowest unemployment rate. The Chesapeake bay is even getting cleaner, although very slowly.



The message of the Democratic party has been, and will be, Hope. Even when things are bad, we can make them better. That's a message I can believe in. That's a banner that I will get behind.

My opponents, one in particular, are running on a fear message. If you fail to support them, evil things will happen. That's not really a message, it's more of a threat.

Delegate Dwyer has challenged me to a debate, which I have accepted. I hope that we can set a date in June. I would like to give the people the opportunity to hear the difference between hope and fear. I already know what the winner will be.

Vote Chiappelli.

Earth Day Wish list

Happy Earth Day!

This time of year is always busy for my family and myself. My wife is an environmental educator and Earth week is like the Super Bowl for Environmental educators. We always attend trash pick-ups, tree plantings, festivals, garden-plantings, etc.

I want to highlight three environmental goals which I hope to achieve in the General Assembly. They may seem a little eccentric, but bear with me. In NASCAR when they want to lighten a car by a pound, they do it by shaving 1/100th of a pound from a hundred places. In order to clean the environment, we'll have to do it by shaving pollution and waster from a hundred places.

-Pass the legislation necessary to allow residents to install clean power on their properties and sell the excess power back to the grid. I know that we are in the process of doing this and that many parts of the legislation are already in place. I also know that when we get it right, green power will boom in Maryland. Because if there is money to be made, people will get on board, regardless of ideology.

-Kill sytrofoam. Either by passing a tax on the use, an outright ban, or mandating that it be recyclable. I recognize that styrofoam has value but using it to transport greasy fries from point A to point B and then placing it in a landfill for the next millenium strikes me as a poor use of resources.

-Deregulate the cemetery business to allow green funerals and create an industry that would profit by preserving open spaces. Tax embalming as it essentially pumps the deceased full of toxic chemicals which are then placed into the ground.

And for the Earth Day humbugs out there, go insulate your attic anyway, you'll get a federal tax credit.

Micromanage

Bob McWilliams' column in the April 2nd issue of the Capital highlights the type of delegate that I do not want to become.

Bad things happen. If a person causes a bad thing to happen to another person, generally you can sue. Most of the time there is already a law against it. The crime of assault includes unwanted touching of all varieties. The crime of Harassment includes non-physical conduct which is harassing all the same. Stealing is wrong.

By and large, we have our bases covered.

Bad things will still happen.

And when they do, legislators leap to the rescue to create a new law or regulation that re-states the existing law. Mr. McWilliams column mentions a few laws which were proposed this session: Not hitting bicyclists with your car doors or throwing things at them or eating, drinking or smoking while driving a car.

Newsflash: It's already a crime to hit bicyclists with your car door. And if you are eating while driving and it causes and accident, you can be found guilty of reckless driving.

I'd like to quote Mr. McWilliams, "[O]ur legislators are much too quick to repeal "everyone's" freedom in response to isolated cases of individual irresponsibility. Increasingly, we all lose a bit of our liberty as we allow the passage of endless laws in a futile effort to control people who don't really care about the law to begin with."

I would like to go to Annapolis to help prune the Maryland Code. Why have three laws when we can condense them into one? Why have one law when none is required?

It's not a sexy issue, but it is important. Legislating is not a matter of picking up the paper and picking the issue of the day. Legislating is about taking a long-term look at the State and the government and determining the best course of action for the future.

Protect the Future. Vote Chiappelli.