A Maryland House of Representatives committee recently approved an offshore wind farm bill that is seeking to foster development of the green energy source near Ocean City, Maryland.

The Economic Matters Committee voted 13-9 to send a scaled-back version of the legislation to the House floor, but Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is pleased with the progress the bill has made, considering his interest in environmental matters, according to the Baltimore Sun. The O'Malley initiative still faces hurdles, but has reached an important milestone in being approved by the Economic Matters Committee.

"This could be a stepping-stone to having Maryland be at least one of the centers of this new industry," Tommy Landers, policy advocate for Environment Maryland, told the Sun.

The new legislation is part of the governor's effort to improve conditions in Maryland enough that a developer would be open to building a wind farm off the coast of Ocean City to provide clean energy, according to the newspaper.

Offshore wind power is the greatest single source of new jobs and green energy in the state, which is why Governor O'Malley should take steps to ensure minority-owned businesses benefit from wind energy growth, stated a recent column in Maryland news source Afro. The column was written by Christine Hill, policy director of the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Joe Gaskins, executive director of the Economic Development and Training Institute of Prince George's County.