California Cars

Maryland environmental groups declared yesterday that Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey would be a disaster on environmental issues if she is elected governor.Representatives of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and several other groups called a State House news conference to say the Baltimore County delegate's record on environmental legislation is among the worst in the General Assembly."In her 16 years in the General Assembly, Ellen Sauerbrey has voted consistently against the environment," said John Kabler of Clean Water Action.

"I wish they all could be California, I wish they all could b California, I wish they all could be California Caaars." With apologies to the Beach Boys and California Girls. Someday soon you may be driving a ZEV, if Gov. William Donald Schaefer has his way.It's not a Russian import model styled on the unlamented Yugo. It's a Zero Emission Vehicle, powered by electricity, solar energy or natural gas, part of the stable of cleaner-running autos that Maryland would require to be sold here, as part of a Northeast regional plan to reduce air pollution.

Can Maryland afford the loss of 60,000 jobs a year because its air is too polluted? Absolutely not. That's one of the main reasons state legislators have an obligation to support the Schaefer administration's plan to require less-polluting cars by the 1998 model year, or sooner if surrounding states approve similar programs.Actually, state lawmakers have little choice: The federal Clean Air Act imposes tough requirements on states to lower their air pollution levels. Maryland must achieve a 15 percent reduction in emissions by 1997 and an additional 3 percent each following year until air pollution has been reduced sufficiently.

Here's the status of major issues pending before the 1993 General Assembly:AIDS: Both the House and Senate have killed Schaefer administration legislation that would have required doctors and laboratories to report the names of people infected with the virus that causes AIDS.BALTIMORE CONVENTION CENTER:House and Senate committees have not yet acted on the governor's proposed $150 million expansion of the Baltimore Convention Center.BUDGET: The House of Delegates has approved a $12.5 billion budget for fiscal 1994.

Little scientific evidence exists to support the Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to allow Maryland and 11 other states to adopt the California Low Emission Vehicle Program.For reasons seemingly more political than scientific, Maryland's Department of Environment, as a member of the Ozone Transport Commission (12 states in the Northeast and Middle Atlantic regions, including Virginia), has lobbied long and hard for the EPA to require it and the other states to adopt the California plan.

Each morning, Mary Jane Mueller picks up three people on her way to work in Towson, where she is an administrative assistant to the Baltimore County finance director.Her riders pay her $1 per day, which helps her buy gas for her Ford Crown Victoria. Besides, she likes the company."I'd rather have people in the car with me than be alone," said Ms. Mueller, who has been car pooling from her Parkville neighborhood for the past 15 years.This month, county planners began work on a proposal to get thousands of Towson commuters to do the same thing.

Bosnian war is a religious conflictHistory repeats itself. In my youth we heard of the killing of Protestants in Northern Ireland by the Catholics. Then the reporting of this slaughter shifted. The killing went on, but they started to call the Catholics the "Irish Republican Army" and the attitude of the world changed toward the killing.Now we have the slaughter of the Muslims in Bosnia. And they are already calling the Orthodox Christians "Serbs." This is like calling the Mormons "Utahs."

Armed with a new smog-fighting accord among northeastern states, Maryland officials plan to urge previously reluctant state legislators to adopt California's strict auto emission rules.Environmental officials from Maryland, the District of Columbia and eight other northeastern states agreed yesterday inPhiladelphia to seek state legislation or regulations that would go beyond federal requirements and impose California's "low emission vehicle" standards on all new cars and trucks sold in their states.

Gasoline prices for Marylanders jumped at least 6 cents per gallon in the past month. More than half of that increase stemmed from government rules to reduce auto-caused air pollution. New Year's Day will bring more bad news -- another expected price increase that could be as much as a dime a gallon -- from further federal requirements.Nigerian oilworker strikes, Middle East jitters and domestic pipeline ruptures have already pushed up the price in Maryland by another 10 cents over the past six months.

The governor's plan to give Norplant to poor women passed with surprising ease. His budget escaped virtually unscathed. One of his gun control bills is on the move, and at least part of his crackdown on "deadbeat parents" appears headed for final approval.All in all, for a lame-duck governor whose popularity peaked years ago, William Donald Schaefer is not having a bad year.Although he's not winning the victories he did during his first term -- when a voter mandate swept him into office -- he's not suffering the losses he did at the start of his second term in 1991.