New state laws designed to preserve the environment, restore voting rights to ex-convicts, freeze university tuition and add to the international pressure against the government of war-torn Sudan go into effect today.
A series of protections designed to prevent the seizure of homes by ground rent owners are also among the 191 laws that take effect.
Some of the measures becoming law, such as the one restoring voting rights to people who have completed felony sentences, were controversial. But others, such as the bill allowing the state pension system to divest from any companies that do business in genocide-ravaged Darfur, passed the Democrat-controlled General Assembly with overwhelming support.
The new laws reflect the dynamics of the 2007 legislative session, the first with Democrat Martin O'Malley as governor. Few costly programs won favor but energy efficiency and conservation measures gained more support than they had in the past, thanks both to sharply rising electricity prices and increased attention to global warming.
Laws that promote energy efficiency and alternative sources such as solar power go into effect today, along with protections for the state's most famous reptile, the diamondback terrapin, and its less cute cousin, the snapping turtle.
"You can't underestimate the power of global warming as a driving issue right now," said Cindy Schwartz, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. "All across the board, there's just a heightened awareness that the environment is something that matters to Marylanders."
One of the new laws is designed to encourage the use of solar panels, particularly on the roofs of big-box stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot. The law requires utilities to purchase a small but increasing percentage of their power from solar providers, helping guarantee that the businesses can recoup their investments if they install solar panels.
"It's going to make solar energy a huge component of our electric portfolio in Maryland," said Sen. Robert J. Garagiola, a Montgomery County Democrat who sponsored the bill.
If the law succeeds, Garagiola said, it could reduce the number of new power plants needed in the state or the amount of electricity imported from elsewhere.
Garagiola said the law could serve as a national model and could reduce the cost of electricity, as traditional sources such as coal and natural gas become more expensive.
However, members of both parties worried it could, at least in the short term, force higher rates on consumers reeling from huge increases in the cost of energy.
Another measure aimed at reducing Maryland's dependence on fossil fuels will set energy efficiency standards for several new kinds of appliances, including some residential furnaces and restaurant equipment, such as walk-in refrigerators and freezers.
Maryland established energy efficiency requirements for a number of other appliances in 2004, and several of the standards were subsequently adopted by the federal government. Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, the Prince George's County Democrat who sponsored the bill, said he hopes the same thing will happen again.
"For us to start to solve climate change and global warming, we have to reduce energy usage," Pinsky said. "We have to make it part of the normal operations of government and consumers."
The other major energy law taking effect will ease the path for the development of wind farms in Maryland.
One of the bill's major backers was Wayne Rogers, a former chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party who is working to develop a wind farm in Western Maryland.
Opponents, however, worry that the new law will limit public input into projects that can involve the clear-cutting of mountaintops and the construction of 40-foot wind turbines that mar scenic views and interrupt bird migration patterns.
The other major environmental legislation protects the state's turtles. One bill prohibits the commercial harvest of diamondback terrapins, best known as the inspiration for the University of Maryland's mascot, and another restricts the capture of snapping turtles.
The turtles were being harvested and exported to Asian countries, where they are considered a delicacy, but this has removed an important indicator of the Chesapeake Bay's health, said Sen. Roy P. Dyson, a Southern Maryland Democrat who sponsored the bill.
"Diamondback terrapins live and reproduce and lay their eggs in the brackish waters, and that's really probably the best measure of where you're making some progress in the cleanup of the bay," he said.
Convicts' voting rights
The most controversial law to go into effect today restores voting rights to those who have been convicted of felonies and served their time, including parole and probation. Proponents said the law is an important tool in helping ex-convicts to become fully productive members of society.
