A Voice for Climate, 40,000 Strong

The American Prospect

By Jaime Fuller

Allison Chin, president of the Sierra Club, knows now is the moment to think big on climate. It’s been a year of “records”: A record number of droughts have hit towns across the country, record temperatures slowly roast the planet, and storms have left record amounts of snow and rain in their wake. Finally, too, a record number of people have conceded that we’re changing the environment for the worse. “Mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, businessmen, people of the faith—it’s not just environmentalists that are affected by this,” Chin says. She knows that environmentalists need to be practical—they need concrete demands that all people left adrift by a changing climate can endorse. But facing such long odds and high stakes, how can they be anything but ardent about the environment?

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Md. Climate Bill Sends Urgent Message to Congress: ACT NOW!

This morning, Governor O’Malley signed into law legislation to combat global warming and create green jobs in Maryland. The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act, SB 278/HB 315, mandates the strongest economy-wide reduction in global warming pollution of any climate bill in the country.

“This is a landmark moment for Maryland and sends an urgent message to the federal government,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Maryland has done all it can do, now it’s time for Congress to enact a nationwide cap on carbon.”

The bill requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 2006 levels by 2020 and directs the Maryland Department of the Environment to craft a plan and a timeline to achieve that goal. With this bill, Maryland joins six states in enacting a legally binding goal for emissions reductions. Maryland’s short term target is the strongest of all the states with legislative commitments to reduce pollution.

Governor O’Malley’s signing of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act today was the culmination of years of sustained efforts from dedicated citizens, business leaders, environmental groups, and religious and health organizations.

The diverse coalition that formed to raise awareness of Maryland’s climate bill — called the Alliance for Global Warming Solutions — included the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Environment Maryland, the Maryland Student Climate Coalition, the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Lutheran Office on Public Policy, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club, and other groups.

The bill signed today is similar to last year’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which did not make it out of the 2008 General Assembly session. The bill that eventually passed was a result of a series of facilitated talks between stakeholders. Leaders within the Maryland climate movement spent several months participating in talks to work out an effective, fair agreement with union and business leaders.

How did your Rep. vote on GWSA?

The Maryland Global Warming Solutions Act was voted down by the House Economic Matters Committee Tuesday night by a margin of 18-2. The bill, which would have required a 25 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, had earlier passed the Senate.

It is important to note that the senate version had a “poison pill” amendment that would have rolled back the regulatory authority of the Maryland Department of the Environment and required multiple future votes by the General Assembly before the state agency could take any steps to reduce pollution.

Among those voting last night to kill the weakened Senate version of the bill were leading Democrats, including Del. Dereck Davis, chairman of the economic matters committee, and Del. Brian McHale of Baltimore, a strong union supporter.

Below is a list of delegates and how they voted. Since the bill had been weakened in the Senate, so much so that the Maryland League of Conservation Voters opposed the final version, it is not possible with just this information to determine whether the legislators voted against the bill because the didn’t want it at all or because they didn’t want the weakened version.

We will be compiling more information on why legislators voted they way they did but while we do that, why not ask them yourself? Below is a list of how your legislator voted, with email addresses: Continue reading

Lawmakers, Steelworkers Kill Global Warming Bill

Other environmental bills survive, with multiple victories for the climate

Maryland lawmakers killed a bill last night that would have required major cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. The bill was a victim of the crush of work and lack of time that usually plagues the last day of the session.

For environmental lobbyists, the defeat stung. The global warming bill was one of the top priorities of a coalition of environmental and conservation groups.

“The legislature really dropped the ball,” said Claire Douglass of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Cindy Schwartz, director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, attributed the defeat of the bill in part to fear-mongering. She said the threat of losing jobs due to the bill – even though that’s only conjecture – is a tried-and-true way to kill a bill.

“It’s very powerful to say to someone if this bill passes, they’ll lose their jobs. It’s not a new tactic,” she said in an interview with the Annapolis Capital.

Despite the defeat, there were multiple victories for the climate:

Strategic Energy Investment Program: Create funds to decrease energy demand and increase energy supply.
Energy Efficiency: Set goal of a 15% reduction in per capita electricity consumption by 2015.
Renewable Energy Portfolio: Boost to 20% portion of state energy portfolio derived from wind, solar and other renewable sources.
Energy-efficient buildings: Require new or renovated state buildings and schools to meet standards of efficiency.
Solar Energy Grant Program: Increase amounts of grants available.

For more depth on this session’s climate victories, visit the Maryland League of Conservation Voter’s 2008 Environmental Legislative wrap-up.

CCAN, the Alliance for Global Warming Solutions, and everyone else working on this bill are not giving up. The fight for comprehensive global warming legislation in Maryland goes on.

Last Chance for Global Warming Solutions Act

Today MD House Economic Matters Committee is considering the Global Warming Solutions Act. If passed out of committee, the House and Senate are expected to pass the bill quickly before session ends at midnight tonight. For a good overview of the narrative of events, check out the Baltimore Sun’s Blog.

The debate over this bill, I think, is going to be indicative of the struggle ahead for two reasons:
1. Separation of green jobs opportunities and job losses
2. Strong leadership support

Green jobs have the potential to create an entire new industry in Maryland. By encouraging development of a green jobs sector now, before the mad rush begins, Maryland gets ahead in building the infrastructure, knowledge, and expertise in the industry. Jobs may be lost in some industries, but those workers could be provided with a just transition to this new, lucrative, green economy. Opposition has pitted job losses against the bill without making the connection to green jobs opportunities. Specifically, MD’s United Steelworkers have come out to oppose the bill because of potential losses at Sparrows Point steel mill. Despite the opportunities that green jobs would create for these workers and despite the support of the national arm of United Steelworkers for a transition to green jobs, the local group has launched a concentrated attack on this bill.

The other important element of this fight is the presence of overwhelming leadership support. Governor O’Malley’s “strong, strong support” of this bill has been a cornerstone of this campaign. The environmental community has come together and formed one of the strongest coalitions in Maryland to date. The Alliance for Global Warming Solutions has brought together over 100 partners in support of this bill. For a list of all the organizations, go to the Alliance website here:http://www.alliancemd.org/plan.htm.

We have yet to see whether the house and senate leadership can come together today. Stay tuned for more updates!

Bad amendment pushes GWSA vote back

A bad amendment was introduced and passed by Sen. Exum today that would make the Maryland Department of Environment get approval from the legislature when we start trying to implement measures that reduce our global warming pollution under GWSA. This is one of three amendments that we knew that was coming, and which we have to fight to make GWSA as strong as it needs to be.

This is the usual back and forth that we see on the floor, so we’re not worried. Continue reading

Marylanders! Senate to vote on GWSA tomorrow. WE NEED YOUR BODIES!

The Senate will vote on the Global Warming Solutions Act TOMORROW and need your help to get our message out that the Global Warming Solutions Act will create jobs in Maryland.

FREE CRUNCH BARS!

We’re going to fight the bad guys by being sweet, so we’re going to be passing out crunch bars to get the attention of legislators. If you think you can make it to Annapolis, meet us a Lawyer’s Mall PROMPTLY at 9 am. We’ll be wearing blue t-shirts–so should you!

Stay tuned to this blog tomorrow for LIVE UPDATES on the bill. We’ll let you know what happens as soon as it happens.

Opponents still believe that the bill will be bad for Marylanders. In a recent email, they say that it “is impossible

A mini-update on GWSA in MD

I usually get to be pretty positive when blogging about how things are going with the MD Global Warming Solutions Act – after all, Governor O’Malley did recently publicly express his support for the bill, going so far as to ask Marylanders to rally with him to show the widespread support the bill has.

Then, I got to go to a hearing last Friday, and listen to certain members of the Environmental Matters Committee and the Economic Matters Committee (who shall remain unnamed) ask questions about global cooling, sunspots, and the possibility that global warming is really caused by a higher population of people breathing (yes, breathing).