Environmentalists fight for funding

Unprecedented push comes as state slashes spending

As state lawmakers start slicing and dicing the governor's budget, environmentalists are marshalling their forces to protect their favorite programs.

To make their case, environmental groups are putting an economy and jobs spin on their requests to keep funding intact for environmental programs.

At a Senate budget hearing Wednesday, activists brought with them septic system installers, home-weatherization contractors and other business owners who directly benefit from government-funded environmental programs.

Dwayne Jones of Harford County, for example, said his contracting business received a boost from homeowners who secured "flush fee" grants to upgrade their septic systems to reduce nitrogen pollution.

"If it wasn't for this, we would have been out of business," Jones said as he waited his turn to testify in the hallway outside a packed hearing room.

Also out in the hallway, Matt Hargrove touted the benefits of a government program that helps residents pay for energy audits and weatherization repairs to their homes.

Hargrove's Eastern Shore company, Total Home Performance, has grown from two employees to 11. But he's hesitant to "pull the trigger" on hiring more employees as long as government funding is in limbo.

The leaders of environmental groups have carefully planned their budget tactics, which also include a jobs-focused Web site, www.supportgoodmdjobs.com.

As important as the environment and the Chesapeake Bay are to Marylanders and to politicians running for re-election, activists know they are fighting for a limited pool of money alongside other key causes, such as education, public safety and health care.

Kim Coble, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said she hopes lawmakers understand that money spent on the environment generates jobs and improves the quality of life.

"The return for investment is really high," she said.

She said the environment should be both a short-term and a long-term investment for the state, and that environmental cleanup can't be pushed back time and again.

Coble said that this year's lobbying effort by environmentalists is unprecedented.

"It's something we haven't done before," she said.

Tommy Landers, from the advocacy group Environment Maryland, said he wants to make sure money isn't diverted from an energy-efficiency program into an energy-assistance program.

The money comes from when carbon credits are auctioned off to power plants through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a northeast carbon cap-and-trade program that Maryland participates in.

The carbon auction money was moved from energy efficiency to energy assistance last year, but the gap was filled with federal stimulus money. That stimulus money will eventually run out, leaving a big hole for helping Marylanders make their homes more efficient, Landers said.

Some other potential budget cuts environmentalists are fighting include:

The Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund: Envisioned as a $50 million fund, the governor proposed it to be $20 million this year, and budget analysts are recommending bringing it down to $10 million.

Maryland Environmental Trust: This agency, which works on land conservation, could be dissolved and incorporated into the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Fisheries Service: This section of DNR, which oversees oysters, crabs, rockfish and other fisheries, is facing a $1 million cut.

Maryland Department of Planning: This agency could lose seven or eight employees.