Economic concerns delay bill to cut down on global warming

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - 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.

“Their children and grandchildren will be able to work at Sparrows Point too, if they chose, because it’s not going to be a couple feet under water,” Pinsky said. “We have a common interest with the manufacturers in reducing our energy costs.”

But opponents said the proposal could cost millions of jobs and force rolling blackouts by 2011. Sen. Donald Munson, a Washington County Republican, said local brick-making company Redland Bricks will close if the legislation is enacted.

“They employ a lot of people, people who have mortgages and families who have to eat,” Munson said. “To put them out of business would be a travesty.”

Opposition also included several Democrats. For the first time in his 45-year career, Sen. Norman Stone — a Democrat who represents the Sparrows Point area — requested to have his name removed from a list of lawmakers supporting the legislation.

The proposal is one of the most significant before the General Assembly this year, said Sen. Thomas “Mac” Middleton, the Democratic chairman of the powerful Senate finance committee.

Middleton supported a successful motion to delay debate until Thursday. Similar legislation remains pending in the House of Delegates.

“It’s a big, big bill,” Middleton said. “I just want to have a comfort level.”

jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com

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