Substantial cuts in state emissions of greenhouse gases over the next 12 years would be mandated under a bill given tentative approval in the Senate on Thursday.
But approval came after amendments were added to allow the governor to delay the deadlines if they were causing economic harm and to force the Department of the Environment to submit reduction measures to lawmakers for enactment.
The Senate rejected an amendment to exempt the Sparrows Point steel plant in Dundalk from the emissions standards as steelworkers watched from the balcony.
“We?d rather not be doing this,” said Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Prince George?s County Democrat and sponsor of the bill. He said he wouldn?t have offered the bill “if the White House had done something.”
The bill requires a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. An original mandate for a 90 percent reduction by 2050 has become a goal. Gov. Martin O?Malley supports the measure.
Sen. Nathaniel Exum, a Prince George?s County Democrat, wanted the legislature to have the final say on regulations to cut emissions. “It?s very difficult to pass emergency legislation and stop something we don?t like,” Exum said.
Supporting the change, Senate Republican leader David Brinkley asked, “How many times have we passed something where we say, ?Oops, that?s not what we intended.??”
Pinsky said other amendments “didn?t do much damage” but Exum?s change “concerns us.” He was afraid lobbyists “would swarm” Annapolis trying to weaken efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.
Sens. Norman Stone, a Dundalk Democrat, and Nancy Jacobs, R-Harford, tried to exempt the steelworkers. “The problem with this industry is there is currently not the technology” to reduce emissions further, Stone said. That amendment failed.
