Howard County Republican executive candidate Chris Merdon outlined his green plan to address environmental concerns in the county, but his challengers for the seat called the move “disingenuous” and “idle rhetoric.”
“Where were these proposals when these councilmen were serving their terms and not running for council president?” independent candidate Stephen Wallis said, adding that Democratic opponent Ken Ulman has introduced similar initiatives during the election year. Ulman is on the County Council; Merdon is its chairman.
Ulman attacked Merdon?s move, saying it was “cynical to announce a plan 50 days before an election.”
“Some of them aren?t bad ideas, but voters see through this election-year posturing,” he said.
Merdon?s four-point plan, which he announced at a news conference Monday, included converting county vehicles to biodiesel fuel and replacing them with hybrid cars as they retire; planting 50,000 new trees; harnessing the methane gas from the Alpha Ridge Landfill to be used for heat and electricity; and developing a fund to purchase “infill” lots in the eastern part of the county to save the land from development. Infill lots are empty lots of land between already-developed parcels.
“Howard County doesn?t have a focus on the environment,” Merdon said.
Initiatives such as the push to use biodiesel fuel and the harnessing of the landfill gases have been considered before and were not cost effective at the time, said Jim Irvin, director of the county?s Department of Public Works.
However, the moves are “worth a look again,” Irvin said.
Merdon said the cost to the county would be minimal for at least three of the initiatives: reforestation, conversion to biodiesel and the landfill initiative.
Wallis? campaign manager Tom Snyder said his camp was working on their own environmental initiatives, which would be released soon.
