Environmental group accused of grading O’Malley on a curve

A– grade reflects governor’s strong stance on green issues, group says

Environmental allies of Maryland LCV criticized the high mark. The Audubon Naturalist Society, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Community Research, and the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club issued a statement Tuesday with the heading: ‘‘Grade Inflation Hits Governor O’Malley’s Environmental Ranking.”

O’Malley (D) received A’s on his commitment to air quality, climate change, energy, fisheries and wildlife, and administration and appointments. He received an A- on Smart Growth and a B+ on water quality.

The biggest blemish was a B- on transportation, largely attributed to his support for the Intercounty Connector, the $2.4 billion, 18-mile highway being constructed between Interstate 370 in Gaithersburg and I-95 in Laurel.

The overall A- is too high given O’Malley’s support for the highway, said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

‘‘The harm that the ICC would cause is such that not only is it bad transportation policy, but it also should’ve had a greater effect on grades on things like air quality, energy and climate change,” Schwartz said.

Cindy Schwartz, executive director of Maryland LCV, defended her group’s evaluation, which was prepared by Maryland LCV’s board of directors and peer-reviewed by leaders of environmental groups across the state.

The highway ‘‘continues to be an area of strong disagreement, particularly in light of soaring gas prices,” Schwartz said.

LCV’s evaluation considered the ‘‘breadth and scope” of O’Malley’s work in the 18 months he has been in office, she said. ‘‘We felt an A- grade was warranted and was well-earned.”

O’Malley has said the Intercounty Connector was a done deal, green-lighted by his predecessor, Gov. Robert Ehrlich.

Stewart Schwartz disagrees.

‘‘We always felt like Governor O’Malley didn’t have to accept this environmental hot potato when it was given to him,” he said.

He denied that the disagreement over the grade had divided environmentalists.

‘‘It’s not a rift,” he said. ‘‘This is a robust discussion in a democracy.”

Money for good grades

The report cards the groups release are healthy parts of debate, said Ryan O’Donnell, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.

‘‘The mistake we run into is if we require any politician to fit perfectly into any group’s desires,” he said. ‘‘...I think the assumption groups should be making is ‘We’re not going to endorse. Prove to us why we should endorse you.’”

That is not the perception of Maryland LCV for some.

Sen. Andrew P. Harris, campaigning for the 1st District seat in Congress in Crisfield last week, called Maryland LCV ‘‘a radical environmental group closely linked to the Democratic Party.”

Harris (R-Dist. 7) of Cockeysville has a 9 percent lifetime score — out of a possible 100 percent — from Maryland LCV.

LCV’s nonprofit status allowed it to run an ‘‘independent expenditure campaign” in support of its endorsement of O’Malley in 2006, LCV executive director Schwartz said. The group canvassed and produced mailers in support of O’Malley, but was prohibited from working directly with his campaign and did not contribute money to it.

Endorsements and high ratings do not necessarily translate into cash.

Maryland Business for Responsive Government’s ‘‘Roll Call” report rates legislators after every session on their votes on business issues.

The report ‘‘is done wholly independent of any anticipated campaign contributions,” said Robert O. C. Worcester, MBRG’s executive director. ‘‘That’s not to say campaign contributions are independent from any score a candidate gets.”

But it’s no guarantee of a contribution, either.

‘‘Bob Ehrlich scored high, but he didn’t get money from us because he had enough,” Worcester said of O’Malley’s Republican predecessor.

Maintaining an ‘A’ average

O’Malley’s ability to keep his grade up with Maryland LCV depends on moving environmental initiatives forward in a tight economy.

The group will not take a position on the November ballot referendum to legalize slot machine gambling.

‘‘Certainly if [slots] pass and there’s more money, we’d like to see it go for the environment,” Schwartz said.

Maryland LCV will keep close watch on several initiatives over the next two years, including how the governor’s Office of Smart Growth addresses sprawl and how the Department of the Environment develops regulations aimed at protecting waterways from storm water runoff and pollution from poultry farms, she said.

O’Malley has taken a ‘‘very aggressive regulatory approach to environmental issues,” said Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus.

Stoltzfus (R-Dist. 38) of Westover, a former chairman of the tri-state Chesapeake Bay Commission, earned a 0 percent rating on Maryland LCV’s report card for legislators released in June.

He criticized O’Malley’s focus on environmental regulations at a time when people in the Lower Shore district Stoltzfus represents are suffering from the economic downturn.

‘‘He’s killed our economy with excessive crab regulations,” Stoltzfus said.

Regulations are one way O’Malley can continue to make strides on the environment, even in tough economic times, said House Economic Matters Committee Chairwoman Maggie L. McIntosh.

Smart Growth policies will be an important way to redevelop older communities and preserve green space, said McIntosh (D-Dist. 43) of Baltimore.

Regulations are necessary to give crab and oyster populations a chance to replenish so the industry does not completely collapse, she said.

Such efforts will take on greater significance as the state struggles to find money for Chesapeake Bay cleanup.

A $25 million fund set aside for Bay cleanup this year was cut in half from the original proposal. It is unlikely that amount will grow in the next budget, McIntosh said.

‘‘I believe we already know that revenues are low,” she said. ‘‘As much as we would like $50 million, no, it’s probably not going to happen.”

Read the report

For the LCV’s report card, go to www.gazette.net⁄links