The Worcester County Commissioners this week refused to back a local environmental nonprofit’s bid to secure a rare multimillion-dollar grant unless the group drops its neutral stance and joins the commissioners in opposing planned offshore wind projects.
“You’re either with us or against us,” Commission President Ted Elder (District 4, Western) told Kevin Smith, executive director of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. “I don’t think there’s any middle ground.”
Smith came to county leaders Tuesday seeking a letter of support that would be included in a $15 million grant request to the state’s Department of Natural Resources. The grant only comes around every five years, and the deadline to file this cycle’s application was midnight Tuesday.
But first, the commissioners wanted to hear if the program and apparently its staff would state their opposition to US Wind’s offshore wind farm project, which eventually would come as close as 10.7 miles off the Ocean City beach.
Opponents, including the opposition’s leader, the Town of Ocean City, say wind turbines anywhere within the sightline of Ocean City will hurt the resort economy and the coastal fisheries industry and damage the ocean environment. As he did last month, Smith, however, held fast that the West Ocean City-based organization would not take sides on the matter.
“We have many partners we work with through getting things done and we do that through consensus,” Smith told the board Tuesday. “Our partners are not in lockstep on this issue. For us to take a side, for or against, would not represent our organization very well, or our partners. Therefore, we’ve taken a neutral stance.”
Thank you Ted Elder, No money for maryland coastal bays, they are like many other non-profits. I must ask, what do they actually do with the money? How do they spend the money to clean the bay? My guess is all they do is lobby to pass more restriction laws