Global Warming Campaign News

Cars, Power Plants Main Culprits Cited in Report

BALTIMORE—Global warming pollution in Maryland jumped 55% between 1960 and 2001, according to "The Carbon Boom," a new analysis of government data released today by Environment Maryland. 

“There is no question that we need to reverse this trend,” said Environment Maryland State Director Brad Heavner.  “The longer we wait to start decreasing our emissions, the worse the impacts of global warming will be.”

Experts concerned about global warming gathered to discuss the report in the lobby of the Charles Theater in Baltimore, where An Inconvenient Truth, a movie about global warming, is currently being shown. 

“I didn’t expect this movie to do very well at all, but it has been the best movie we’ve had in quite a while,” said Buzz Cusack, owner and manager of the Charles Theater.  “Who would have thought a movie about a lecture could be so popular?”

Existing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies could substantially reduce global warming pollution, but the federal government has so far rejected mandatory pollution limits.

Using data compiled by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the new report examines trends in carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel combustion nationally and by state between 1960 and 2001, the most recent year for which state-by-state data are available.  Major findings of the report include:

• Maryland emitted 49.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 1960; by 2001, the state’s emissions had grown to 76.9 million metric tons, an increase of 55%.
• Nationwide, emissions of carbon dioxide nearly doubled between 1960 and 2001, jumping from 2.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 1960 to 5.7 billion metric tons in 2001, an increase of 95 percent.

• A dramatic growth in oil combustion in the transportation sector and coal combustion for electricity generation fueled the rapid increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions between 1960 and 2001.

Today, Rep. Henry Waxman (CA) introduced the Safe Climate Act, which provides a long-term, science-based solution to global warming.  The bill requires the U.S. to reduce its global warming pollution by 15% from today’s levels by 2020 and by 80% by 2050.  To achieve these targets, the bill calls for improved energy efficiency and a greater reliance on clean, renewable energy sources, while providing companies flexibility in meeting the pollution-reduction goals through a “cap-and-trade” program.

Rep. Waxman commented, “This report shows how the problem has been growing for decades.  Now is the time to heed the scientists and start healing the climate.  The Safe Climate Act will dramatically reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to the levels needed to avoid dangerous global warming.  We start now and increase improvements over time, as we replace dirty old energy sources with clean renewable energy and energy efficiency.”

Here in Maryland, lawmakers are debating several policies at the state level that would reduce emissions of global warming pollution.  The Clean Cars Act would require carmakers to reduce the emissions of the cars and trucks they sell.  And the Maryland Department of the Environment is considering options in the implementation of the recently-passed Healthy Air Act that will make a large difference in how much global warming pollution is emitted by power plants in the state.

In Maryland, increased oil combustion – largely to fuel cars and light trucks – accounted for 47% of the state’s increase in carbon dioxide emissions from 1960 to 2001.  Vehicle travel increased dramatically over the period, while the fuel efficiency of U.S. vehicles stalled in the late 1980s.  The number of miles driven on Maryland’s roads increased from 12 billion in 1960 to 52 billion in 2001, an increase of 435%.  Increased combustion of coal and natural gas contributed 30% and23%, respectively, of the state’s growth in emissions from 1960 to 2001.

The early effects of global warming are evident in Maryland and worldwide.  Among the many changes:

• Rising sea levels, combined with sinking land, have swallowed 13 islands in the Chesapeake Bay and consume 260 acres of land in Maryland each year.
• Eight of the ten hottest years in history have been in the past decade.  According to NASA, 2005 was the warmest year ever recorded.
• Scientists predict precipitation will increase by 20 percent this century, largely from major storm activity.

“Accelerated sea level rise from global warming poses one of the greatest future threats to millions of people surrounding the Chesapeake Bay,” said Michael Kearney, professor of geography at the University of Maryland, College Park.  “Hurricane Katrina is the latest tragic example of the potential for catastrophe when powerful storms make landfall on very low-lying shores and coastal defenses prove inadequate; and for the Chesapeake Bay, it is not a question of if, but when.”

The U.S. could substantially reduce its global warming pollution by using existing technologies to make power plants and cars more efficient and increase the use of clean, renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass, noted Claire Douglass of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.  “These are win, win solutions because they also would reduce our dependence on oil, reduce air pollution, protect pristine places from oil drilling and mining, and save consumers money,” she said.

Oil companies – led by ExxonMobil – automakers, and most electric utilities continue to fight common sense solutions to global warming, Heavner pointed out.  For instance, ExxonMobil gave at least $15 million between 1998 and 2004 to groups working to confuse the public about the broad scientific consensus on the causes of and solutions to global warming.