Maine lawmakers Tuesday will take up one of the most far-reaching anti-global-warming bills to go before any state Legislature in the country.

If passed, state agencies would have to consider future energy use and greenhouse gas emissions before the state invests in new schools, plans new roads or issues permits for large private developments, among other things. Advocates say the bill – the Climate and Energy Planning Act of 2009 – would put teeth in the state's pledges to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and cut carbon dioxide emissions.

But is this the right time?

Maine's business community wants the Legislature to kill the proposal and other bills that could raise costs at a time when businesses are struggling to survive or keep workers employed.

"It makes it a lot more expensive and complicated to do development in Maine," said Kathleen Newman, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Maine. "And in this economy and what we're going through in Maine, it just seems like the worst possible time to pass this."

Supporters, on the other hand, argue it's exactly the right time to rein in Maine's energy use and costs.

"What we build now will lock us into utility bills and climate emissions for decades to come," said Steve Hinchman, staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation in Brunswick. "As soon as this recession is over, we know that petroleum prices (are) going to go back up."

The tension between rescuing the economy and fighting climate change – and the argument about whether both can be done at the same time – goes well beyond Augusta.

Congress is now engaged in the same debate after the introduction of legislation to cut greenhouse-gas emissions nationwide, including a carbon dioxide cap-and-trade system. And the issue will heat up further this week if, as expected, the Obama administration formally declares that carbon dioxide – a byproduct of all fossil fuel use – will be regulated as an air pollutant because of its contribution to global warming.

The deep recession also is coloring negotiations at the global level and is lowering expectations that a strong international climate-change treaty will be produced at a December summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In Maine, the recession is shaping political arguments about climate change even as the debate is shifting from goal-setting to regulation and action.

"Addressing carbon emissions is urgent for humanity. There's no question about it. But what is the best way to do it?" asked George Jacobson, the state's climatologist and former director of the University of Maine Climate Change Institute.

"It's not easy to say, 'What would I give up?' That's a difficult question, and this bill is sort of getting at that," he said.

While the legislation would carry some costs – including additional state staff and permitting fees – Jacobson also sees long-term savings for businesses and the state as people figure out ways to save energy.

"The trouble is getting there from here," he said. "We're spending all this money on other things, bailing out banks and such. How does this fit into the priorities?"

CRITICS: BILL COULD HURT GROWTH

The proposed Maine Climate and Energy Planning Act of 2009 will be presented at a public hearing Tuesday before the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee. The hearing begins at 1 p.m. in the Cross State Office Building, Room 214.

The bill includes some measures that have been proposed and adopted in other states, such as Massachusetts, California and Washington.

But it is more sweeping than any other state law, officials said, because it would affect state planning, spending and environmental permitting.

If passed, state agencies would have to consider energy use and climate-change impacts, similar to the way they assess effects...