"A longtime energy aide to Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) who spearheaded the state's climate change initiatives will become the new director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency that oversees oil and gas and renewable energy development on roughly 1.7 billion acres of federal waters.

Abigail Ross Hopper, who has led the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) since 2012, will take over BOEM in the first week of January, the Interior Department confirmed.

Hopper will become the second director of BOEM, the agency that was carved out of the former Minerals Management Service in 2011 after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill."

Phil Taylor reports for Greenwire December 18, 2014. [2]