Duncan Announces Support for New Maryland Bill to Improve Air Quality

For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 18, 2004

At today’s launch of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP), a group dedicated to supporting sustainable approaches to environmental challenges, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan announced that one of his priorities for the 2005 Maryland General Assembly session is passage of an air quality bill that will limit emissions from coal-fired power plants. Duncan expressed his concern that Maryland continues to be one of the most lenient states for coal plants and their pollution. The CEP is a newly-formed regional group of businesses and non-profit organizations that support practical solutions to global warming and air pollution.

“One of my priorities for the 2005 Maryland General Assembly Session is passage of an air quality bill that will limit emissions from coal-fired power plants,” said Duncan. “Instead of being a leader, Maryland continues to be one of the most lenient states for coal plants and their pollution. I think it’s time we joined many of the other states along the east coast that have more aggressive strategies for improving air quality.”

During the 2004 legislative session, House Bill 1172, Air Quality – Limits on Emissions from Coal-Fired Generating Units, did not make it out of committee. The bill’s chief sponsor, Delegate James W. Hubbard (D-23A), plans to reintroduce the bill this year. The bill is known as the ‘Four Pollutant Bill’ because it would place additional limits on emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury and carbon dioxide. The County’s Air Quality Strategy calls for support of multi-pollutant legislation at both the federal and state levels that would require air emission reductions for all power plants.

At today’s launch of the Clean Energy Partnership, representatives from the founding businesses talked about the benefits of using clean energy. The CEP believes that the problems of global warming and air pollution cannot be solved without the active involvement of businesses, and will be helping them to switch to clean, renewable energy. The CEP will focus on education, promoting the use of clean energy and investments in energy efficiency, and advocating for environmental legislation at the state and local level.

“Montgomery County is at the leading edge of the clean energy revolution with its visionary purchase of wind power for some of the county’s electricity needs,” said Gary Skulnik, director of the Clean Energy Partnership. “Now, the Clean Energy Partnership is bringing the message about renewable energy to businesses. Buying clean energy and investing in energy efficiency is not just good for the environment, it's a smart way to do business.”

“Montgomery County strongly supports the goals of the Clean Energy Partnership,” Duncan added. “Our recent wind energy purchase, the largest local government purchase in the country, is helping us prove that being good environmental stewards is also good for the bottom line.”

In May, Montgomery County represented a buying group of six County agencies, 11 municipalities, and Prince George’s County, making the largest purchase of wind energy by a local government in the nation, the largest retail purchase in Maryland, and the fifth largest retail purchase in the country.

Founding members of the CEP include Austin Grill; Community IT Innovators; Honest Tea; My Organic Market; Nana Design; the National Aquarium in Baltimore; Stein, Sperling, et al law firm; Tower Companies; and Montgomery County.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is completing a Periodic Emissions Inventory (PEI) based on 2002 data that should be released this year. It is expected that the PEI will show that more than 90 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions from point sources in Montgomery County are attributable to fossil-fueled power generation.

North Carolina passed the Clean Smokestacks Act, a nationwide model for controlling multiple air pollutants from coal-fired power plants, that should significantly reduce ozone, haze, fine particles, acid rain, and mercury from atmospheric sources. North Carolina has filed suit against 13 states, including Maryland, asking them to take action to cut ozone precursor and particle pollution.

Reduction of nitrogen oxides and mercury will also improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. It is estimated that nitrogen from air deposition sources amounts to 30 percent of the total nitrogen loading to the Bay.

Release ID: 04-604
Media Contact: Esther Bowring 240 777-6530