Governor O'Malley Urges EPA to Restore Maryland's Right to Reduce Auto Emissions

Press Release

Governor O'Malley Urges EPA to Restore Maryland's Right to Reduce Auto Emissions

Governor Martin O'Malley today testified before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in Washington D.C., to urge Congress to allow Maryland to implement the Clean Cars Act passed last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to protect our environment and the Chesapeake Bay.

At the end of the 2007 legislative session, Governor O'Malley signed the Clean Cars Act into law, which implemented stronger emissions regulations for cars sold and registered in Maryland, and created a Clean Car and Energy Policy Task Force. The Clean Cars Act would adopt the stricter automobile emission standards that are currently used by California.

"In Maryland, we have worked hard to protect our natural environment and restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay, but we have tremendous challenges ahead," said Governor O'Malley. "The EPA must allow states like Maryland and California to make choices and create policies that promote sustainability, enhance our quality of life, and protect our natural environment."

The Maryland clean cars law would allow Maryland to join 16 other states, including California, in imposing stricter automobile emission standards on what amounts to 45 percent of the Nation's registered automobiles.

A recent analysis published by the California Air Resources Board indicates that California's standards are 85% more effective than federal CAFE standards alone. The CAFÉ standard, or Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard, is a federal mandate that determines the minimum average miles per gallon for vehicles sold in this country. Analysis results show that if these cleaner cars in the 20 states will reduce 682 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, or equivalent to taking more than 135 million cars off the road. The federal CAFE standards alone would reduce just 367 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions - 85% less effective at reducing the pollution that is worsening global warming.

States that have adopted, or have committed to adopting, California's strict automobile emissions standards are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

In addition to testifying before congress today, Governor O'Malley is proposing legislation that would enhance Maryland's Critical Areas Law, so that so massive developments like the Four Seasons project on Kent Island are prohibited at the first step in the process, not the last.

Governor O'Malley is also developing a long-term plan for energy generation, distribution and conservation, to meet the EmPOWER Maryland goal of decreasing energy consumption 15% by 2015 and to reverse the effects of global warming.

In his first year in office, Maryland joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), working with 9 other states to reduce emissions and fight global warming.

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