More Self-Dealing

I am conflicted about this post.

On the one hand the marxists in the Department of Natural Resources who seem to operate from the philosophy that landowners in Maryland are simply squatters on *their* property received a pimpslapping. But on the other it demonstrates, like the Queen Anne land scam, the ability of O’Malley allies to do pretty much what they want.

From the Washington Post:

When his plan for clean energy ran smack into a rare habitat on a rocky Appalachian ridge, Annapolis businessman Wayne L. Rogers turned to people he knew could help: his contacts in the Maryland General Assembly.

Trending: Thank You

State law and the environmental protections it afforded all but scuttled his proposal last year for 24 windmills atop Backbone Mountain at the state’s western edge. So Rogers waged a successful campaign to have the law changed — and environmental review gutted — for wind-energy projects such as his.

I know, I know, you’re thinking what’s the big deal? This is the way our system of government is supposed to work. You work within the system to change the laws. At a certain point working within the system begins to smell like corruption. Again from the WaPo:

The Department of Natural Resources, which had conducted the lengthy environmental review of the Synergics project and opposed the bill, did not provide testimony before the committee. When two of the agency’s top wildlife scientists showed up, they were told by DNR’s legislative staff member that they could not testify, according to several people who are familiar with the case and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political nature of the bill. The department’s name was crossed off the witness list of opponents, records show.