The Chesapeake Climate Action Network congratulates Governor O’Malley and his staff at the Maryland Department of the Environment for working tirelessly in recent weeks to help craft the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act of 2009. This is an important bill and the Maryland General Assembly should pass it immediately.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act of 2009: SB 278 and HB 315

TAKOMA PARK-The Chesapeake Climate Action Network congratulates Governor O’Malley and his staff at the Maryland Department of the Environment for working tirelessly in recent weeks to help craft the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act of 2009. This is an important bill and the Maryland General Assembly should pass it immediately.

Since November, MDE facilitated dozens of hours of negotiations involving major Maryland groups and individuals with a stake in climate policy. Parties included labor leaders, manufacturers, and the environmental community. This final agreement, if passed without major amendments, will represent a huge and culminating step in Maryland’s multi-year efforts to address global warming. The bill mandates, by law, a 25 percent reduction in Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions (below 2006 levels) by the year 2020. This mandate is economy-wide and adds Maryland to six other states that have set mandatory statewide emission reduction levels. (CA, WA, HI, CT, MA, NJ)

The good news for all Marylanders is that, while cutting greenhouse gas pollution, the bill will simultaneously bring an enormous boost to our state’s ailing economy. Governor O’Malley’s esteemed Commission on Climate Change last August laid out 42 different policy options that will help achieve the 25-percent reduction goal. These include everything from better land use to green buildings to expanded recycling. Thankfully, several key reductions policies have already been passed by the Maryland General Assembly, including the state’s renewable electricity standard and the clean cars law. All told, the Governor’s Climate Commission estimates a net $2 billion in savings will be realized in the state under this comprehensive emissions reduction approach.

If this bill passes, Maryland will have achieved the lion’s share of its responsibility in addressing the climate crisis. Still, the overall job will be incomplete without near-term action from the U.S. Congress. A national cap on carbon pollution is required as soon as possible. Such a cap, if properly structured, would complement the Maryland bill by regulating industries not covered in the early years by the state bill. These economic activities include the state’s carbon-intensive manufacturing sector. At the federal level, any financial burden on the manufacturing sector can be offset through tariffs on imported products, a mechanism that is not possible at the state level.

The Maryland Global Warming Solutions Act, while historic, should be viewed as part one of a two-part puzzle. The Maryland General Assembly should act now to pass the bill, and the U.S. Congress – with help from Senators Cardin and Mikulski as well as House leaders Hoyer and Van Hollen – must pass a federal bill in 2009 that completes the deal and further stimulates our local and national economies. Any federal cap must be fair and create a level playing field for all economic sectors. It must also mandate carbon reductions consistent with what the international scientific community agrees are necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change.

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