On Monday, I wrote about a plan in California for 1,500 solar homes. Eco-tech news seems to simply pour out of the place. But if California wants to remain America's eco-mecca, it's going to have to work at it. States across the nation are ratcheting up efforts in areas such as renewable energy, efficiency, and green building standards. With the passing of five bills covering all of these areas, Maryland could be the one that makes a run at the golden state's title.

With aging power plants, high vulnerability to sea level rise - it's 3rd in exposure behind Louisiana and Florida - and rolling blackouts predicted as early as 2011, the state has some pretty good incentives to cut some kilowatts. Unfortunately, it also has to play catch-up. In 2004, the state spent 1 penny per capita on efficiency, compared to the U.S. average of nearly $5 and Cali's $10.

Maryland is already party to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which will implement a cap-and-trade program for emissions in 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. With the adoption of this new legislation, the state becomes a national leader in energy policy. The most prominent of the provisions is the EmPOWER Maryland bill, codifying an efficiency goal that would reduce state-wide consumption and peak demand by 15%. Another bill sets LEED silver standards for schools and state buildings. The other bills will increase the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 20% by 2020 and provide incentives for residential solar and geothermal. The state will also use revenues from the selling of RGGI emissions permits to set up an energy fund to boost efforts in renewables and efficiency.

So how did the state sell such do-gooder policies? Bottom line: Efficiency saves money. The EmPOWER program is expected to save Maryland ratepayers 5.7 billion on their energy bills. It will also avoid the building of three fossil fuel energy plants and create 8,000 "green collar" jobs.

"This energy package not only accelerates energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate change programs, but also puts money back in the ratepayers' pockets," said Governor MartinO’Malley . "I want to thank the General Assembly for their hard work in ensuring that we help lower energy bills while ensuring clean and reliable energy for all Marylanders."

Speaking at Resources for the Future in Washington, DC, Malcolm Woolf, Director of the Maryland Energy Administration said that although there is no silver bullet for the tough problems facing his state, he likens the multi-pronged approach taken by the agency to "silver buckshot." California may need some more firepower to win this fight. Maybe some kind of solar-powered rail gun.

Note: I decided that a Terminator mini-gun reference would be a little much. Besides, I'd much rather reference Kindergarten Cop. And if the crab cakes title reference got by you, watch this, then rent Wedding Crashers.