Keynote speaker Gov. Martin O'Malley talked about the need for a "healthy, skilled and mobile work force" at the PACE breakfast Friday morning at Loews Annapolis Hotel.

O'Malley said more Marylanders than ever had health insurance last year and the importance of community colleges won't go away.

"My hat's off to the courageous leadership in Garrett County," O'Malley said, which is helping to provide students the opportunity to continue their education close to home at an affordable price.

O'Malley also noted that funding is in place for construction of the U.S. Route 219 Oakland bypass and the design phase of improvements to Chestnut Ridge Road. In Allegany County, the U.S. Route 220 corridor will receive state help for a traffic study.

The governor talked at length about developing clean, renewable energy sources, whether it be solar power, wind or otherwise. A wind energy coalition has applied to build wind turbines on state land in Allegany and Garrett counties.

O'Malley said that a "balance" must be struck between harnessing renewable energy sources and preserving Mountain Maryland's scenic beauty.

"We did not want to make a decision without hearing from everybody," said O'Malley, who said that the western part of the state is "one of the most beautiful places that God put on the planet."

Two public hearings are scheduled next week. From 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, the public can attend one hearing in the auditorium at Garrett College. The next day a hearing will be conducted in Annapolis.

Both Sen. George Edwards and Delegate Wendell Beitzel oppose placing wind turbines on state lands. Edwards had sent O'Malley a letter stating his position - which O'Malley acknowledged Friday - while Beitzel talked about the issue after the governor's comments.

"I'm very much opposed to utilizing state forests" for wind turbines, Beitzel said.

But the first-term delegate, a self-proclaimed "very strong proponent of private property rights," said there could be another issue regarding wind energy - storage. When there's no wind, he said, there's no wind energy.

When there is wind, Beitzel said there's often energy from other sources already available. Experts now, he said, are having a difficult time storing wind energy so it can be used on an as-needed basis.

O'Malley also addressed the gypsy moth crisis and alluded to the roughly $4.5 million he's asked state lawmakers to approve to help resolve the issue. About $3.5 million of that, said Allegany County Commissioner Jim Stakem, would be used for a study. Another $1 million would be earmarked to revive the state's suppression program.

From the podium, Edwards noted O'Malley's willingness to work with the far western part of the state "even though we don't always agree on the issues."

"It's nice that we can sit down and talk about things," Edwards said.

O'Malley also commented on the strength of the state's Department of Business and Economic Development - with new Director David Edgerley, formerly of Allegany County as a centerpiece in maintaining a line of communication between the two ends of the state.

He spoke of the positives in the area, noting unemployment in Allegany County had decreased from about 10 percent 10 years ago to 4.5 percent in November and referenced the manufacturing industry's mass departure in the mid-1980s. A telecommunications center at Frostburg State University is still in the works, O'Malley said, but admitted it is years down the road.