Once upon a time, the Global Warming Solutions Act was merrily making its way through the Maryland General Assembly. There were minor setbacks, of course, but, obviously, things had been going much too easily. So to make life more interesting for this particular bill, its opponents have started introducing truly terrible amendments.
They are:
1. Require MDE to seek legislative approval for any action required by this bill.
This is designed to slow down the effectiveness of the bill. MDE already has the authority to initiate some new programs to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It would be a step backward to put an extra step in the process for these programs.
2. Turn the 2020 cap into a soft target.
This is the whole point of the bill: to set goals, make plans to achieve them, and implement.
Nuff said.
3. Allow any federal policy to preempt our state law.
Currently proposed federal legislation is much less comprehensive. Even if it were actually science-based, we do now want to give up the right to make our own laws dealing with pollution and other issues.
The truly scary part? Word on the street is that some of the swing voters think that these sound like *great* ideas.
We need to tell these people that a vote for any of these amendments is a vote against the bill:
Sen. John Astle (District 30) – (410) 841-3578, (301) 858-3578
Roy Dyson (District 29) – (410) 841-3673, (301) 858-3673
Ed DeGrange (District 32) – (410) 841-3593, (301) 858-3593
Nathaniel Exum (District 24) – (410) 841-3148, (301) 858-3148
Edward J. Kasemeyer (District 12) – (410) 841-3653, (301) 858-3653
Delores Kelley (District 10) – (410) 841-3606, (301) 858-3606
Kathy Klausmeier (District 8 – (410) 841-3620, (301) 858-3620
Rona Kramer (District 14) – (410) 841-3625, (301) 858-3625
Doug Peters (District 23) – (410) 841-3631, (301) 858-3631
Jim Robey (District 13) – (410) 841-3572, (301) 858-3572
Norman Stone (District 6) – (410) 841-3587, (301) 858-3587
If you’re feeling action-oriented, make a few phone calls today. I really don’t want to start working to kill GWSA because it turned so bad it wasn’t worth passing.
