The Air Already Smells Cleaner

Gov. O'Malley has only been in an office a short while but many have been ready to say that his administration is off to a slow start. To quote Vice President Dick Cheney: "hogwash". The House of Delegates has now passed legislation which matches California's ambitious effort to reduce car pollution:

Because the best way to reduce gases is to use less fuel, the legislation would require vehicles to be more fuel efficient. The law is designed to raise the state's average fuel efficiency for new vehicles sold in Maryland to 43 miles per gallon. The current average for light trucks and SUVs is 22.2 mpg and for cars, 27.5 mpg.

Five years ago, California became the first state to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide from car tailpipes. The higher standards are to take effect in 2009, but the auto industry has sued that state to block them.

Maryland lawmakers -- mindful of cancer rates, asthma and rising water levels hastened by climate change in the Chesapeake Bay -- are pushing a slew of clean-energy initiatives this session.

"It's a big day," House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said, estimating that the Clean Cars Act would take the equivalent of 190,000 vehicles a year off the road. "People for years wrote off climate change. Now they're seeing things like Hurricane Katrina, tsunamis, and they know the causes of melting ice caps have credibility."

The 122 to 16 House vote included Republican support and reflected the power of the state's environmental movement after passage of legislation last year to curb pollution from coal-fired power plants. O'Malley highlighted clean cars in his State of the State speech last month and embraced the measure in his first-session legislative package.

"He thinks we have a responsibility to lead the fight against global warming," spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said.

The Senate appears ready to follow suit and Gov. O'Malley will sign the legislation. In a very short time, Maryland Democrats have moved aggressively to reduce our energy dependence on imported oil, and thus our indirect funding of terrorism, in a manner that the Bush Administration should have been pushing since 9/11. If this is O'Malley's choice of his big gift this year to liberals, I approve.