Sen. Della said he's been hearing from voters worried losing their jobs at brick manufacturing businesses, the Domino's sugar plant and the state's only steel and paper factories. He said the MDE hadn't done enough to communicate with businesses and explain to them what regulations they might face -- and that just talking to industry lobbyist Michael Powell wasn't enough.

"If Maryland is going to step forward and be in the forefront, we have to partner with these
businesses and we can't be heavy handed," said Della.

 Sen. George Della

Sen. Nathaniel McFadden said he wants legislative oversight of the MDE to prevent any mistakes in imposing new greenhouse gas regulations. McFadden said he didn't want global warming regulations to go as badly as electric utility deregulation passed by the legislature in the late 1990's
 "That whole deregulation thing blew up in our face, and people came back and pointed
the finger at us legislators," said McFadden. "We need to have some oversight, in terms of what we do moving forward."

 Sen. McFadden

Sen. Pugh said earlier this week that she had "some concerns" about the bill because of its potential to hurt industries and jobs.  "Some amendments have been offered by industry, which are concerned" they couldn't reach the goals in law, she said.

 Sen. Catherine Pugh

Sen. Pinsky, the Prince George's Democrat who sponsored the bill, objected that requiring the legislature to approve MDE's plans at every stage would "emasculate" the state regulators. For other air pollution control programs already run by the MDE, it's normal for the agency to issue regulations -- for example, on ground level ozone or mercury -- that do not require General Assembly approval. 

 Sen. Paul Pinsky

Pinsky said that, even before the amendment, his bill already allowed for delaying action if it might cost jobs or drive businesses out of state. A prior amendment required the MDE to delay action until lawmakers had a chance to review its plans.

Sen. Charles M. Middleton, a Charles County Democrat, agreed that the amendment represented "micromanaging" MDE.  "We are the legislature. If we don't like what they do, we can change it," he said.

Liz Nelson of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters said today's amendment "certainly weakens the bill...It sets the targets without allowing the agency to be able to do what they need to do to get to the targets."

Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat with the Sparrows Point steel mill in his district, said he worried that if the bill passes, it could complicate efforts to sell the struggling plant. That could put its remaining 2,500 employees out of work, he argued.

Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Harford County Republican, joined Stone in seeking the amendment.  She argued that "many, many scientists" do not agree that human activities are contributing to global warming.  "With the economy the way it is, we need to be protecting the economy just as much as we are the environment," she said.

But Pinsky pointed out that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists agreed that action was needed to reduce greenhouse gases.  He said he and others preferred a nationwide response to the threat, but the Bush administration has dragged its feet, so state action is needed until the federal government acts.

 Kim Coble, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, called the Exum amendment "harmful" to the effort to curb greenhouse gases. "What the legislature voted on today was to strip MDE of its responsibilities, in many ways, by giving the legislature the responsibility of approving actions and programs that would normally be digested and approved by MDE.  It makes you wonder what's next."

Here's a list of the state senators who supported the weakening of the Global Warming Solutions Act:

Brinkley - R

Colburn - R

Currie - D

DeGrange - D 

Della - D

Dyson - D

Edwards - R

Exum - D

Forehand - D

Glassman - R

Greenip - R

Haines - R

Harris - R

Jacobs - R

Jones - D

Kelley - D

Kittleman - R

Klausmeier - D

Kramer - D

McFadden - D

Mooney - R

Munson - R

Pipkin - R

Pugh - D

Simonaire - R

Stofltzus - R

Stone - D

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Here's a list of the state senators who opposed the weakening of the bill:

Miller - D

Astle - D

Brochin - D

Conway - D

Frosh - D

Garagiola - D

Gladden - D

Harrington - D

Kasemeyer - D

King - D

Lenett - D

Madaleno - D

Middleton - D

Muse - D

Peters - D

Pinsky - D

Raskin - D

Robey - D

Rosapepe - D

Zirkin - D