Draft Report Suggests Cutting Emissions by 90% by 2050
Panel Says Goal Could Be Met by 'Cap and Trade' System

By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 5, 2007

A government commission in Maryland is considering recommendations that the state begin capping emissions of greenhouse gases, with the goal of a 90 percent reduction by 2050, according to a draft report released yesterday.

The report, from the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, would put Maryland among more than a dozen states that have proposed goals for reducing emissions. In Virginia, for instance, a recent plan issued by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) called for greenhouse gases to be reduced 30 percent by 2025.

The climate change commission in Maryland, created by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), will present the final version of its report to him in a few days, a state spokesman said. The commission's members include state legislators, agency heads and environmentalists.

Yesterday's draft called for Maryland to begin cutting back on emissions quickly so that, by 2015, the state total would stand 15 percent below the 2006 level. It calls for even more ambitious goals after that: by 2020, a 25 percent reduction, and a 90 percent reduction by 2050.

The report said these goals might be met through a "cap and trade" system, where polluters are allowed to buy and sell unused emissions credits. It also recommended investing in energy efficiency programs and sources of renewable energy.

Some local environmental groups applauded the plan yesterday, saying it would make the kind of deep emissions cutbacks needed to head off disastrous climate change.

But Brad Heavner of the group Environment Maryland conceded that the reductions could not happen without the development of new tools for producing clean energy or removing the pollution from fossil fuels.

"There's no question that we need technological breakthroughs to get there," Heavner said. "But it's good to have this as an official state goal, so we can push" for better technology, he said.

A spokesman for O'Malley said yesterday that the governor had not read the draft proposals.