Annapolis—A major draft bill released today by Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy & Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) sets the stage for Congress to pass historic energy and global warming legislation, according to Environment Maryland.
The draft bill uses a framework advanced by major U.S. businesses.
“This is a pragmatic bill that tries to balance a historic opportunity with the diversity of views on that committee,” said Environment Maryland State Director Brad Heavner.
The draft bill sets standards to repower America with clean energy, including a requirement that the nation obtain 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, like wind and solar power, by 2025. The draft bill also requires the United States to reduce its global warming emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 through a combination of domestic action and efforts to help stop tropical deforestation.
State leaders on the issue of global warming welcomed the development.
“The Maryland General Assembly is about to pass one of the most sweeping global warming bills in the country. We hope that the federal government will use Maryland’s example and attack global warming at the national level,” said Del. Kumar Barve, the lead House sponsor of Maryland’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act.
“With Maryland on the verge of passing a sweeping global warming bill, the ball is shifting to Congress, and it looks like they’re ready to play ball,” added Sen. Paul Pinsky, the lead Senate sponsor of the state bill.
"We are very happy to see the inclusion of strong clean energy standards that will transform our economy and the strong pollution-reduction requirements that reflect the latest climate science,” said Heavner.
At the same time, Environment Maryland expressed concern about “high levels of carbon offsets in the bill, which may work against reductions in emissions, and large subsidies for unproven carbon capture and storage technology.”
“We also need to examine the details of the draft bill to make sure that Maryland and other states can continue to move forward with even stronger solutions to global warming,” said Heavner.
Environment Maryland encouraged the state’s lone representative on the House Energy Committee, Rep. John Sarbanes, to help keep the bill strong. “We strongly urge Rep. Sarbanes to support a strong bill that repowers America with clean energy, helps rebuild our economy, and solves global warming,” Heavner added.
