By: Allison Stice
Posted: 2/11/09
Scores of witnesses, including former opponents, spoke out in favor of
the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act yesterday, leading sponsor Sen. Paul
Pinsky (D-Prince George's) to describe the bill's first hearing as a
"love-in."
The legislation, which failed late in the session last year due in part
to opposition from manufacturing and labor interests, would mandate
that by 2020, the state must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25
percent from its 2006 levels. Sponsors have since brought many former
opponents on board largely through an exemption for manufacturers,
although representatives from gas, coal and waste management industries
still oppose the measure.
The act requires the Maryland Department of the Environment to draft a
state-wide reduction plan by 2011, then hold workshops and public
forums before finalizing the plan by 2012.
The first of two reports due to the General Assembly by 2015 is an
independent study of the manufacturing industry, which will not be
required to reduce emissions and will not be regulated by the state.
The federal government or a regional initiative could oversee the
industry's emissions in the future.
The Department of the Environment would file a second report on whether
the reductions were on schedule and if jobs had been created and
protected.
Opponents claimed climate change is not a scientific fact, and
regulation would harm their industries and taxpayers' wallets by
increasing energy costs. Supporters urged quick action, stressing the
state's unique vulnerability to global warming effects, such as rising
sea levels.
"Maryland may be a small piece of the global solution, but we'll be a
major recipient of the problem," Pinsky told the state Senate
Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee.
Secretary of the Environment Shari Wilson said although the bill
preempts federal legislation at the moment, the framework would allow
for flexibility should the federal government pass stricter
regulations. The legislation would also position Maryland in the top
tier of progressive states when it comes to environmental reform,
making the state highly competitive for clean energy industry
investments.
"The scientists have told us repeatedly that early reductions are cheaper, easier and more effective," she said.
Donald Boesch and Matthias Ruth, two of eight university researchers
who served on the governor's Climate Change Commission, testified on
behalf of the commission's Climate Action Plan, whose 42
recommendations helped formulate the bill.
"If indeed we don't do anything ... and begin this action in 2050,
again, it is too late," said Boesch, the director of the university's
Center for Environmental Research.
Ruth has conducted a study that said delayed action on climate change
would cost the state billions of dollars, although the bottom line
would be unclear.
The bill has significant student support on the campus. Clean Energy
for UMD and the university's chapter of the Maryland Public Research
Interest Research Group are working together to lobby state legislators
throughout the session, including an action to collect Valentine's Day
cards that support the measure tomorrow.
Yet the legislation is not likely to bring any significant changes to
the campus, according to university President Dan Mote, who signed a
commitment to moving toward carbon neutrality in May 2007.
"I'm not expecting whatever it says to be more thorough than we are,"
he said. "The carbon neutrality track we're on is pretty aggressive."
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