Huge news for Marylanders today: Governor Martin O’Malley is going to announce his support for the Global Warming Solutions Act! Check out the AP and Sun articles about it. Last year, O’Malley’s support meant that the Clean Cars bill passed. This year, it means that the pressure on Sen. Miller and Del. Busch is building, and might help push them off the fence in favor of the Global Warming Solutions Act.

The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008 (SB-309, HB-712), which is in Senate hearings TODAY, would require Maryland to reduce its global warming pollution 25% by 2020 and 90% by 2050 as cost-effectively as possible, as recommended by the Maryland Commission on Climate Change. These targets, based on what scientists recommend is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, would be the strongest in the nation. Read more about the bill>>

There’s still strong opposition to the bill, largely from interests that FALSELY think that the bill would lose jobs for the economy. “It’s not going to be at all positive for the economy, but this legislature and this administration [don't] care,” says Republican Sen. David R. Brinkley, the Senate minority leader from Frederick County. “They are more interested in making political statements about saving the Earth than saving Maryland jobs.”

Instead of relying on Senator Brinkley for information on how this bill will affect jobs in Maryland, I like to rely on business leaders. Leaders like Rex Wright, of Johnson Controls, Inc. Rex is the Installation Manager for the Mid-Atlantic Region. Johnson Controls specializes in building efficiency and Rex will testify before the Senate Committee on Education Health and the Environment today. Here’s a snippet of what’ he’ll have to say:

“Sustainability initiatives create jobs,” stated Rex Wright of Johnson Controls, Inc., a business specializing in building efficiency. “The soon to be completed energy efficiency initiatives between Johnson Controls, Inc. and Baltimore City Public Schools, for example, created over 200 jobs, over 50 of which were created for minority and women -owned businesses. Sustainability works; it creates jobs.”

In fact, thousands of jobs will be created by this bill. Green jobs, or jobs directly produced by local investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, have the potential to employ thousands of MD residents. Weatherizing homes, installing solar panels, maintaining “LEED” standard buildings are going to be the backbone of these jobs.

Green jobs can provide a bridge between the communities that will be disproportionally affected by global warming—the poor—and the growing climate movement. While climate change is about the plight of polar bears, it’s also about Katrina victims, thousands of inner city children who suffer from asthma, and the elderly who are most vulnerable to heat waves—these are also victims in this pollution-based economy. The reality is that climate change is not just about solar panels and polar bears, it’s about moving toward an economy that is based on clean energy and energy efficiency, and about creating jobs that are both local and stable.

So, let’s not let those people from the old guard—the ones who don’t want to see change—slow down our movement. Tell your legislator now that you want solutions to global warming AND a solution to our economy. Stay tuned as we hear more from today’s events.

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Tags: green jobs, GWSA, O'Malley

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