Councilman to put forth 80 percent emissions cut

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner will introduce a package of environmental bills today he hopes will push the county to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

Berliner designed the package of seven bills, which include 23 separate environmental initiatives, to allow the county to reach its goal as a Sierra Club “Cool County” of reducing local greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

Berliner organized a public forum on global warming earlier this year in which community leaders talked about ways to reduce fossil fuel use in buildings and transportation. Berliner said the ideas generated in the forum are largely the basis for the bills.

Among the proposed initiatives are property tax credits for solar and geothermal energy uses, the elimination of sport utility vehicles in the county fleet and increased energy standards for new construction in the county.

Berliner, an energy lawyer, said he expects opposition, especially from developers worried about the increased building costs. He said would take that as a good sign.

“If we’re doing the right thing, there should be pushback,” Berliner said of the bills he will introduce at this morning’s County Council meeting. “These are aggressive policies, and I’d be disappointed if there wasn’t any pushback. That would mean we’re not being aggressive enough.”

He described his package as a starting point for discussion and debate and expects the other nine members of the council to have their own ideas. Berliner couldn’t say what the cost of his plan would be but did not want taxpayers to bear the brunt of the cost.

The announcement comes the day after County Executive Ike Leggett introduced his selection to head the County Department of Environmental Protection. Robert G. Hoyt, the former assistant secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, said he been briefed on Berliner’s bill package on Thursday but had no comment on the specifics of the legislation until after his confirmation hearing on Dec. 11.

Berliner expects Hoyt, who is the co-founder of Annapolis-based environmental consulting agency EcoLogix Group, Inc., to be confirmed.