Wind Power in Anne Arundel County

On Monday, July 19, 2010, the County Council voted to allow residential wind power in Anne Arundel County. Although the bill is modest in scope and contains a number of restrictions on size, location and energy output, it is a big step forward.



I was honored to testify in favor of the bill on July 6th. Windpower is good. It’s good for the economy. The installation and maintenance of windmills creates jobs. Those jobs by necessity have to be local. You can’t outsource those jobs. It’s good for the environment and the Chesapeake Bay because it produces electricity without any waste. If the windpower replaces coal or oil power, it will reduce the amount of mercury, nitrogen and particulate matter entering our ecosystems. It’s good because windpower is local power and it reduces our dependence on foreign regimes or the whims of the marketplace.

One of the issues that came up was the appearance of windmills. The new bill contains height restrictions and other restrictions to minimize the negative visual impact of windmills. I’m of the opinion that windmills represent the future. When I visit my family in Pennsylvania and see windmills on the sides of the Appalachian mountains, it looks like progress. It looks like hope.

In short: wind power is good.

Protect the Future: Vote Chiappelli.

Team Chiappelli

As the campaign season really takes off, I'd like to introduce my right and left hand people, Rose and Matt!

Running for office is a team sport and I'm proud to have such outstanding people standing beside me.



And, of course, everyone's favorite Segway riding hero: Captain Awesome!

July 6th: Deadline day

It's official. The deadline for filing to run for office in 2010 has passed.

A number of people have jumped into the House of Delegates race in District 31 and as the first person in that race, I'd like to welcome them. Stan Janor has been in the race since 2009. Justin Towles jumped in in April. All three incumbents decided at the last minute that they would like to keep their jobs. Two other fellows, one Democrat and one Republican also decided, literally at the last minute, to jump into the race as well.

I don't understand the need to wait until the last minute. I mean, I understand that they are trying to avoid some of the paperwork of running for office and they hope to get noticed by the media. To me, running for office is serious business. It's important to get out there, put your cards on the table and say "here I am and this is the job that I want." This last minute shuffling feels artificial as if the incumbents and latecomers aren't sure if they want the job or they had more important things to do first.

Regardless, we're all in the race now. Voters start checking your mail and answering your doors, the candidates are coming for you. Ask us the tough questions. Check out our backgrounds. Make us earn your vote. And we won't stop trying until November 2nd when you pick me and two others!

Books

I love books. I'm a big reader.

When people ask me why I'm running for office, I tell them the truth: I read a lot. I read a lot of books about the various problems facing the world and then I read a lot of books about various solutions to those problems. I like to solve problems. I don't see other candidates or existing office-holders tackling some problems or approaching them with the right solutions. I would like a chance to try.

I mention that because I would like to hear from you, good citizens of the Fighting 31st, what books do you want your elected officials to have read? Let me know in the comments.

I just finished a book "From the Bottom Up" by Chad Pregracke. It's the true story of Chad and how he decided to clean up the Mississippi River. There was trash, so he went out on his boat and picked it up. The rest is just elaboration. It was very inspirational and it reminded me why I'm running for office. Sometimes there are simple solutions that we just haven't tried for some reason.

While I'm on the subject of books, let me heartily endorse the Book Thing of Baltimore (www.bookthing.org). Free books! Stop by on weekends and drop off your old books and pick up as many free books as you can handle. It's awesome!

BP Madness

I try not to repeat myself on this blog and I try not to fire off tirades against the Republican party. I'm about to break both of my informal rules.



BP executives were hauled in front of Congress today. Predictably, the politicians loudly stated their disgust with the whole mess.

The good thing is that we at least know who to blame: BP. And the other good thing is that they have been forced to put $20 Billion dollars into a fund to help the many, many victims of the accident.

And in the midst of the largest environmental disaster in American history, members of the Republican party want to apologize to BP for taking their money!! Are you kidding me?! This is not some kind of tax to go for pork barrel projects in the local Congressional districts. This is compensation for people who are directly victimized!

The Republican congressman apologized for his apology later (or flip-flopped as they say). But the scary thing is that it wasn't an accident, it was a talking point. This is a party that truly believes it is wrong for a big corporation to have to pay the victims of their crimes. This is a party which tried to take a political shot at the President and the Democrats for doing the right thing.

This is why I am a Democrat. If you commit a crime, you need to compensate the victim. I don't care if you are a common street thug or BP. Protect the Future. Vote Chiappelli.

The Constitution of the United States

I’m a big fan of the Constitution. It is the bedrock upon which my profession is built. It is such an Enlightened document that I can understand people’s confusion about whether it was divinely inspired or not.



The Constitution was written by a great group of people.

It was also written by suspicious people who had the challenge of figuring out a way to live together peacfully. Our Founders did a great job. They created a government of limited powers. Any powers that the Federal Government has is specifically spelled out. They even left in wiggle room, like the "Necessary and Proper" clause, for future unforeseen circumstances.

The Constitution does not deal with beliefs or with morals or with religion because the Founders came from very different backgrounds. Slavery being the largest elephant in the room. Some of the Founders believed that slaves were property. Other Founders beleived that slaves were people. That's a pretty big difference of opinion.

Yet they managed to create such an enduring Constitution because they did not try to decide which belief was better or who had the better religion.

The safest Constitution is the one which protects your freedoms from me. Because I know that my freedoms are safe from you.

Which leads me to the biggest difference between myself and my opponents: They are Constitutional hypocrites.

I've had the opportunity to hear my opponents speak several times and one element which keeps reoccuring is the belief that by expanding civil rights and constitutional freedoms, those rights are weakened somehow. Delegate Dwyer has been the most vocal with this ridiculous position but the others are careful to toe the line.

This is a direct affront to the Constitution. Our freedoms should be spread as widely as possible because that truly provides each of us with the greatest protections. Freedom is not like gold. You don't hoard it and become rich. It's not something that there is a limited supply of and if we share it with our neighbors our supply of freedom is lessened.

Protect the Future of our Constitution. Protect the Future of our Freedoms. Vote Chiappelli.

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.