The outcome of Proposition 23 in California could have an effect on Maryland. If successful Proposition 23 would suspend the implementation of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act until the state’s employment situation rebounds.
A successful Prop 23 outcome would go a long way in delegitimizing Maryland’s version of California’s job killing regulatory nightmare. In 2009, Governor Martin O’Malley championed and the General Assembly passed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, which mandates the state reduce it’s GHG emissions to 25% of 2006 levels by 2020. The law comes from the recommendations of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change. The commission created by an O’Malley executive order and it’s work outsourced to a global warming alarmist advocacy group the Center for Climate Strategies (CCS). CCS was also instrumental in California’s global warming law. According to the Capital Research Center CCS:
“CCS persuades governors to appoint “study commissions” on global warming, then steers the policy process, rigging commission proceedings to produce a predetermined result: higher energy costs, diminished property and other individual rights, and more Big Government.
Indeed from the beginning, CCS tells it’s clients, “participants will not debate the science of climate change.” They told the same to officials from the Maryland Department of the Environment, the agency tasked with implementing regulations to meet the mandates of this law. CCS boasts it’s ability to bring in outside funding to support it’s work. In Maryland’s case, the radical Town Creek Foundation paid CCS $100,000 in 2007 to perform the work of Maryland’s climate commission. Town Creek’s board of director’s decide, which organizations receive grants. One board member Donald Boesch, president of the University Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, also happens to be a member of the climate change commission. In total Town Creek has given UMCES $215,000.
Town Creek has given the special interest group Environment Maryland $150,000 to “to impact the creation of a Climate Action Plan for Maryland.” Last year, Environment Maryland director, Brad Heavner bragged about his organization being “the lead policy/lobbying group” in getting the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act passed. When I asked MDE if Heavner’s group was involved in writing the law’s regulations the agency was less than forthcoming.
Despite the lack of transparency there is enough of a paper trail to give us an idea about what’s in store, and it’s not pretty: cap and trade, new utility surcharges pay as you drive insurance, carbon taxes, new construction regulations, more stringent restrictions on property rights, and increased bureaucracy.
The law states that the emissions reductions may not result in reduction in the state’s manufacturing jobs, create a net increase in jobs, and have no negative impact on reliability and affordability of electricity. Of course this is complete nonsense as experience shows these boondoggles drive up costs and destroy jobs.
California is O’Malley’s lodestar on environmental policy. If Golden Staters reject their global warming law, then Marylanders may have a fighting chance to stop O’Malley’s economy busting climate plan cold.
