Susan is deeply committed to enhancing the quality of our air and water, as well as preserving open space and improving our recreational facilities. Sometimes, the answer is simple enforcement of strict laws already on the books. Other times, Susan pushed broad new initiatives to protect and preserve our natural resources for the next generation. Reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil and encouraging alternative clean energy sources are imperative to the future of our country.

Governor Ehrlich’s Chesapeake Bay clean-up legislation—the most aggressive since phosphate detergent was banned two decades ago—elicits smiles from co-sponsors and cheers from environmentalists. Susan and other co-sponsors joined the Governor on board the Pride of Baltimore 11 for the bill signing at Annapolis City Dock.  

• Land

  • Voted for Governor Ehrlich’s record investments to preserve environmentally sensitive land across Maryland, where one in every five acres now is permanently protected.

  • Provided record funding for Program Open Space in Maryland

  • Voted for budgets that sent $6 million to Carroll County for parks and open space.
    
     

• Water

  • Supported signing the Regional Watershed Agreement and upgrading the Freedom Water Facility to provide additional water supplies.

  • Opposed using Piney Run Lake as primary source of water

  • Support re-visiting the possibility of a Gillis Falls Reservoir in collaboration with the State and County for long-term relief to our water shortages.

  • Voted for the Governor Ehrlich’s landmark Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act, which will cut in half the nitrogen pollution that gets dumped into the Bay by sewage treatment plants.
    
     

• Clean Energy

  • Sponsored and passed the Maryland Energy Efficiency and Economic Development Loan Program that provides low-interest loans to selected Maryland businesses that promote energy conservation, energy efficiency and energy-related economic development.

  • Supported programs that encourage the use of renewable energy, such as the Solar Energy Grant Program.

  • Supported Governor Ehrlich’s Clean Power Rule, the most sweeping air quality regulation in Maryland history, which sought to cut air pollution by record amounts, protect our power supplies and keep our electricity bills low.

  • Led efforts to craft a renewable energy initiative, with the twin goals of increasing use of alternative energy sources and decreasing dependence on oil, legislation passed in 2004.

  • Support Governor Ehrlich’s initiatives to provide incentives for the use of renewable electricity, including solar and wind resources.

  • Working on a project partnering private business with the State of Maryland to incinerate poultry litter to produce electricity.