Economic concerns delay bill to cut down on global warming

A proposal to cut Maryland?s carbon emissions to offset global warming was tabled Wednesday after some lawmakers said the bill could threaten blue-collar jobs and shut down some of the state?s largest industrial operations.

The proposal sets a goal of reducing Maryland?s carbon emissions 25 percent by 2025, a softer version of legislation that originally required a 90 percent cut by 2050. That change, said Senate sponsor Paul Pinsky, a Prince George?s County Democrat, represents a compromise to cushion polluting factories and their employees, including thousands of steelworkers at Baltimore County?s Sparrows Point.