ENVIRONMENT:

States Move Forward to Address Global Warming--with Maryland Left Watching

Final Plan for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Released

“We can start working on solutions to this immense problem now, or we can sit on our hands and watch it get worse--and pay for it later,” said Brad Heavner, director of MaryPIRG, an environmental advocacy group, in a prepared statement to the press. “This accord would actually save customers money through investments in energy efficiency. I think most Marylanders would vote for solutions.”

In the absence of federal leadership to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide, the main pollutant that causes global warming, states are developing their own policies. New England and Mid-Atlantic states are committing to firm reductions. Governors in New Mexico and California have announced targets for deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. Oregon and Washington are developing a plan similar to RGGI.

“Maryland must be a leader on this issue, instead of sitting on the sidelines,” said Theresa Pierno, Vice President of the National Parks Conservation Association, in the consortium's press release. “In order to protect our parks, the Chesapeake Bay, and our communities, the regional effort to curb carbon dioxide pollution must include Maryland.”

The environmental groups announcing the plan claim that Maryland has done little to address the issue of global warming. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) started an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the state several years ago, but it is incomplete and now out of date. MDE has no plans to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide. Maryland’s seven oldest power plants emit 34 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

The Maryland General Assembly will consider the Healthy Air Act in the coming session, which would require modest reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide, along with greater reductions in three other pollutants from power plants. Under the bill, carbon dioxide reductions could be achieved entirely within Maryland or through participation in the regional “cap-and-trade” system being established by RGGI.

Global warming is causing sea levels to rise, potentially harming communities along Maryland’s 3,100 miles of coastline. Given its low slope and indented coastline, Chesapeake Bay is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise. The problem in Maryland is exacerbated by gradually sinking land due to geological forces.

Sea level rise already consumes at least 260 acres of coastal land in Maryland each year. Large portions of the 26,000-acre Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge are already flooded.

“Global warming is a clear threat to Maryland’s bays and wetlands,” said Erin Fitzsimmons, Chesapeake Regional Coordinator for the Waterkeeper Alliance. “Our efforts to restore and protect these resources for future generations are being undermined by our lack of action to address global warming and rising sea levels. The question that must be asked is, ‘Why shouldn’t we control emissions from coal-fired power plants?’ ”

Increased storm activity will also result from global warming. Extreme precipitation events (more than 2 inches in 24 hours) in the United States have increased by about 20 percent over the past 100 years. While scientists cannot link any individual storm to global warming, they have detected a trend of increased storm intensity. Many people are concerned that more storms similar to Hurricane Isabel would do immense damage to Maryland’s economy.

Other impacts of global warming include increased spread of infectious disease, reduced crop yields, worsened health impacts of air pollution, deadly heat waves, and ecosystem shifts.

“Climate change is the greatest public health concern of this century,” said Dr. Cindy Parker of the Baltimore Chapter--Physicians for Social Responsibility and a faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.