Gov. Martin O’Malley announced his support today for a global warming bill CCAN and the Alliance for Global Warming Solutions have been pushing for the last two years. Sponsored by Sen. Paul Pinsky, Del. Kumar Barve, and O’Malley as lead, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act will protect Maryland’s environment and economy while also spurring action at the federal level to address global warming nationwide.
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This makes Maryland the sixth state in the nation in calling for statewide reductions in global warming pollution. The bill requires reductions in statewide greenhouse gas emissions of 25% from 2006 levels by 2020, and directs the Maryland Department of the Environment to craft a plan and a timeline to achieve those goals.
“This law will put Maryland at the forefront of controlling greenhouse gas emissions and should push the federal government to follow our lead and get serious about this issue,” said Del. Barve. The bill follows the recommendations of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, established by Governor O’Malley in 2007, and closely resembles the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008. The commission offered 42 specific policy proposals to achieve the 2020 reductions, and the authors emphasized the importance of those early and aggressive actions if we hope to mitigate future global warming.
“Maryland can take a big step with this bill, and I urge immediate action,” said Mike Tidwell, Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Now we need a simultaneous and very strong federal carbon cap that complements Maryland’s effort by creating a level national playing field for our state’s industries and workers.”
Governor O’Malley and his staff at MDE worked tirelessly in the past couple months to help craft the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act. 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 would add Maryland to six other states that have set mandatory statewide emission reduction levels (CA, WA, HI, CT, MA, NJ).
While cutting greenhouse gas pollution, the bill will simultaneously help boost our state’s ailing economy. The commission’s 42 policy options include everything from better land use to green buildings to expanded recycling. Several key reductions policies have in fact already been passed by the General Assembly, including the state’s renewable electricity standard and the clean cars law. All told, the 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 swift action from the U.S. Congress to cap nationwide carbon pollution at the levels determined by international scientific consensus. Such a cap, if properly structured, would complement the Maryland bill by regulating industries not covered in the early years by the state bill, including 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. Any federal cap must be fair and create a level playing field for all economic sectors.
