Amended Bill For Emissions Cuts Approved

"We've heard from scientists who do not say the sky is falling [from global warming], as we've been led to believe," said Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford), who unsuccessfully tried to exempt from the proposal the ArcelorMittal steel plant at Sparrows Point in Baltimore County.

Jacobs and other senators who represent the area said the jobs of 2,500 steelworkers could be in jeopardy if the company is forced to use less power from coal-fired plants.

Supporters said the environmental agency would carefully weigh whether the greenhouse gas caps would be so onerous on a business that they would threaten jobs.

"This legislation shouldn't be a popularity contest" among industries that seek exemptions, Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery) said. "Our collective house is on fire. Somehow everybody's got to contribute to carrying a bucket of water."

California, New Jersey and Hawaii have set strict reduction goals in recent years.

Maryland, with its thousands of miles of shoreline, is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change, lawmakers and scientists have said.

Maryland has begun to clear the path for greenhouse gas reductions.

Two years ago, the legislature mandated reductions in pollution from large, coal-fired power plants. And last year, Maryland joined a group of states working to strengthen the effort through a system for buying and selling pollution credits, known as a cap-and-trade system.

Another law passed last year limits carbon dioxide emissions from car tailpipe. Maryland and other states are fighting the Bush administration in court to implement the law.