Maryland Enacts Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Target

On May 7, 2009, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act of 2009, which contains a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target for the state. The legislation sets the target at 25 percent below 2006 levels by 2020 and requires that a task force create and submit a plan for achieving this target; the plan is to be adopted by December 2012. As a whole, emission reduction measures in the plan must provide a net economic benefit to the state and a net increase in jobs.

The GHG emission reduction target set by this legislation is more stringent than the target set by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional cap-and-trade program to which Maryland belongs. RGGI caps carbon dioxide emissions for electric utilities and will achieve a 10 percent reduction in emissions from 2009 levels by 2018. Maryland’s legislation also has a broader scope than RGGI, covering sources across the economy except the manufacturing sector.

Press Release
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)