Maryland has joined the U.S. Climate Alliance and is supporting efforts to address climate change, including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, land preservation, and other actions, Gov. Wes Moore announced last week.
Moore’s $63.1 billion budget proposal, released Jan. 20, includes $422 million for environmental protection in Maryland.
The investment would be made through programs funded by the transfer tax supporting land preservation, operations, and capital projects for state parks. It would accompany $129 million in general funds for the Great Maryland Outdoors Act’s revision of the transfer tax repayment provision.
“We are often told climate change is a problem for the future, something you only have to worry about if you live on farmland or in a flood zone–but climate change is an existential threat for our entire state, and it is happening now,” Moore said in a statement. “Confronting climate change represents an opportunity for Maryland to lead—and together, we can be a leader in wind technology, in grid electrification, and in clean transit.”
As part of the U.S. Climate Alliance, Maryland is committing to the Paris Agreement’s goal to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
That mission includes reducing collective net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% by 2025 and 50-52% by 2030, and reaching overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or earlier.
They will also ramp up policies for reducing greenhouse gas pollution; mitigate climate change impacts; deploy more clean energy efforts at the state and federal levels; and track and report progress on these goals to global partners.
At the center of these actions will be “equity, environmental justice, and a just economic transition,” Maryland state officials said, including the creation of “high-quality jobs” to help reach climate goals.
