Increased Greenhouse Emissions Decried

"What we've been doing for the past decade or more is sitting on our hands and watching it go up," he said yesterday.

A spokesman for Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) said yesterday that the state has taken significant steps this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those include the so-called Clean Cars bill, intended to reduce emissions from automobiles, and a plan to join a coalition of Northeastern states that are cooperating to reduce emissions.

"Governor O'Malley believes Maryland has a responsibility to lead the fight against global warming," said Sasha Leonhardt, an O'Malley spokesman.

In Virginia, coal-burning plants and development sprawl were identified as major factors in an increase in emissions of 32.1 million metric tons, to 126.4 million. The rates of increase for coal-powered plants and gas-powered cars in the state -- 58 percent and 30 percent, respectively -- both ranked in the top 10 nationally.

The automotive component should be obvious to any long-distance commuter in Northern Virginia, said Peter DeFur, an affiliate associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. DeFur, who served on an advisory board that studied Virginia's greenhouse gas emissions, said developments in counties such as Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford made increases inevitable.

"All those people come with cars, and each one of those cars comes with its tailpipe emissions," DeFur said yesterday. "And that's part of the reason why we've grown so much."

Increased population also partly explains the growth in coal-plant emissions, said Dan Genest of Dominion Virginia Power, which provides electricity to 2.2 million customers in Virginia. But Genest said individual customers are also using more energy than they used to, to power such things as computers, plasma TVs and other electronic items.

Overall demand has risen 40 percent in the past decade, Genest said.