You all probably all know this by now, but the MD House of Delegates passed the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act 107-31 last Friday. Woo! Celebrate! (you should probably get your beer-drinking in while you still can)

Now you’re probably wondering a few things: What else needs to happen for the bill to become law? And, more importantly, what exactly will this piece of legislation do, and what does it mean for MD and the US?

Easy question first. The bill will go back to the Senate, where they will vote again to accept the minor amendments passed by the House (things like a provision to make sure that the Department of Agriculture is involved in discussions of offset programs). Then, it will be headed off to Governor O’Malley’s desk. To find out how your elected officials voted, click here (enter your zip code to see your legislators), and then send them a thank you email (or a spank you email, if they are still thinking that global warming is actually caused by sunspots).

So what does GGERA actually do, and why do we love it so much? GGERA sets a hard cap on carbon – meaning that the state has a mandate to reduce our global warming pollution at least 25% below 2006 levels by 2020. In addition, GGERA calls for the Maryland Department of the Environment to create a comprehensive plan on how we’ll get to these reductions by 2012. This does NOT mean that we are holding off on taking action until 2012 – instead, that is the date by which MDE must have all of the necessary programs up and ready to go. For more details on the nitty-gritty of the bill, check out this factsheet put together by MDE.

This bill has broader implications as well. First off (time for me to brag about MD), this is the STRONGEST bill passed by any state on climate legislation, especially when it comes to short term reduction targets. This also means that MD’s passage of a strong climate bill will help push our federal officials into passing a strong bill. Want to help? Become a Climate Precinct Captain, and organize for federal solutions in YOUR community.