Global Warming Bill Killed

But in the end, the Maryland Global Warming Solutions Act was voted down by the House Economic Matters Committee last 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. But the approved senate version had a 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 House Economic Matters Committee, and Del. Brian McHale of Baltimore, a strong union supporter.

State Del. Kumar Barve, the house sponsor of the bill and a Democrat from Montgomery County, said the intense opposition by industry and unions in the end proved too much. The committee was also flooded by a series of very complex bills -- including a proposal to provide BGE customers with electricity rate relief.

"It was overwhelming and I think there were people saying it was too complex....let's worry about it next year," said Barve, the House Democratic leader, who vows to bring back a similar bill in 2009. "There were union members all over protesting it...We've got nine months to put it together and bring it back."

He added that not all was lost. Another bill passed to require Maryland power companies to buy 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like wind turbines by 2022. And a bill passed that will set up government programs to encourage people to use 15 percent less electricity by 2015.

Dawn Stoltzfus, deputy director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, said it was better to see the bill defeated in its gutted form than passed with the Senate amendment. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Nathaniel Exum, would have rolled back the authority of the MDE, which already has the power to issue rules to limit carbon dioxide emissions.

"Everybody was against it," she said of the Exum amendment, which was carried over into the House bill. "It was unfortunate."

Overall, Stoltzfus said the union opposition to the bill carried a lot of influence in the General Assembly, which is dominated by Democrats. "We think they (the lawmakers) lost their nerve -- the unions had lots of people down here lobbying," alongside the industry lobbyists, she said.

Steelworkers and other unions were worried that the bill would impose fees on the burning of coal, which would raise the price of paper, steel and other products in Maryland -- meaning that they couldn't compete with products made in states or countries that lack global warming regulations. Industry lobbyists also asserted the new regulations could screw up the sale of the Sparrows Point steel mill in Baltimore County to a Russian conglomerate, which has promised to boost production at the plant.

The members of the House Economic Matters Committee who voted to kill the weakened Senate version of the Global Warming Solutions Act (with the Exum amendment):

Dereck E. Davis, chairman
David D. Rudolph, vice-chair

Aisha N. Braveboy
Brian J. Feldman
Jeannie Haddaway
Hattie N. Harrison
Richard K. Impallaria
Sally Y. Jameson
James J. King
Ruth M. Kirk
Carolyn J. Krysiak
Mary Ann Love
Brian K. McHale
Warren E. Miller
Joseph J. Minnick
Donna Stifler
Herman L. Taylor, Jr.
Michael L. Vaughn
Mary Roe Walkup

The committee members who voted in support of the weakened bill were:

C. Sue Hecht and Roger Manno

The committee members not present for the vote:

Emmett Burns and James Mathias

Posted by Tom Pelton on April 8, 2008 11:06 AM | Permalink

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