Several other business owners testified that the bill would boost the state's economy by creating thousands of jobs in wind energy, solar panel manufacturing and home insulation.
Among the bill's supporters to testify during a joint hearing of the House Economic Matters and Environmental Matters committees was 8-year-old Gus Dunn-Hindle of Southern Maryland.
He said his generation will see Baltimore and many other waterfront communities flooded because of global warming and rising sea levels. "In the future, young people will look back and ask, `Why didn't they do something when they had the chance?'" he said. "Now you have the chance to do something."
Del. Joseph C. Boteler III, a Republican from Baltimore County, questioned whether global warming is caused by industry. He suggested sunspots might cause climate fluctuations.
Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, said the international scientific consensus is clear that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by industry are warming the earth's atmosphere. "There is a very solid consensus on what we know about climate change," Boesch said.
Scientists have recommended a 90 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century to prevent destabilization of the climate.
State Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the House minority leader, said the O'Malley administration's antagonism toward Constellation Energy over electricity rates could discourage the company's plans to build a nuclear reactor in Southern Maryland, which O'Donnell described as the state's best chance of producing energy without any greenhouse gases.
"How can the state propose these goals, reductions in greenhouse gases, and yet be pushing the greatest hope of doing that or accomplishing that further away from reality?" O'Donnell asked.
Other amendments proposed by the administration yesterday include a requirement that the state's environmental agency report back to the legislature every four years to make sure the pollution control goals are practical and won't hurt businesses.
The administration is also backing away from a proposal to create a 20-employee Office of Climate Change within the Maryland Department of the Environment at a cost of $2 million a year, saying the agency should hire 10 people for about $1 million.
tom.pelton@baltsun.com
