Flooding on the Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County in July 2019. Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service photo.
Taken one way, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters’ report card on the most recent General Assembly session, which was released Monday, has great news for the environmental movement.
A record number of lawmakers rang up 100% scores, meaning they were fully aligned with the green group on its priority bills that received floor votes during the 2024 session. And, as the LCV report laid out, several substantial pieces of legislation that will bolster the state’s efforts to confront climate change made it through.
But the LCV also gave state policymakers a few mulligans.
Several important environmental bills stalled during the session. And LCV leaders are particularly upset about two legislative developments — the passage of a bill that was designed to expand the data center industry in the state, and a budget amendment that passed that will slow down the implementation of clean building standards and could cost the state some federal clean energy funding.
LCV called the latter development “a significant setback.” But the group did not grade lawmakers on the budget vote or on the data center legislation.
“This year’s scorecard highlights the strides we’ve made and the work that remains,” Kim Coble, executive director of Maryland LCV, said in a statement. “While we celebrate significant victories in renewable energy, we also face challenges in key areas including building emissions and environmental justice. These mixed results underscore the critical importance of electing and supporting environmental champions.”
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In some ways, this year’s LCV report card was more a look at the state of the environmental movement’s clout than it was an evaluation of individual lawmakers’ votes. The scorecard ticks off several legislative victories, including a measure expanding solar energy adoption; allocation of $90 million for climate initiatives; a bill providing more funding and guidance for targeted watershed restoration projects, especially in communities where environmental justice is an ongoing concern; a bill adding manufacturing to the state’s greenhouse gas reduction mandates; and an update of the state’s EmPOWER energy efficiency program.
But in its report, LCV is also candid about the legislative failures that piled up during the 2024 session, including the legislature’s unwillingness to push through aggressive measures that would help fund initiatives to meet the state’s ambitious carbon reduction mandates or create sustainable transportation programs. The green group also lamented the demise of a bill that would have called for environmental justice evaluations for every environmental permit issued in the state.
LCV’s biggest laments were over the budget amendment that impacted the state’s Building Energy Performance Standards, and the passage of the data center bill, which was a top priority of Gov. Wes Moore (D).
LCV, Moore’s closest ally in the environmental community, initially opposed the bill, because large data centers are major energy hogs and require large diesel generators as backups in case the power grid goes down. But when a compromise was reached to send 15% of all taxes from the data center industry to a clean energy fund overseen by the Maryland Energy Administration, LCV changed its position from opposing the bill to having a neutral stance — which is why the group decided not to score lawmakers for their votes on the measure.
The bill passed unanimously in the House and was opposed in the Senate by Sens. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel), Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel) and Karen Lewis Young (D-Frederick).
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Overall, in the state Senate, 32 of 34 Democratic senators racked up perfect scores from LCV, voting for all of the green group’s eight priority bills. Two Democrats — Lam, who missed a key vote, and Sen. Katherine Klausmeier (D-Baltimore County), didn’t fare quite as well, with scores of 88% and 86% respectively. The highest Republican scores, 63%, were earned by Sens. Mike McKay (Western Maryland), Bryan W. Simonaire (Anne Arundel) and Chris West (Baltimore County and Carroll). No GOP senator scored lower than 50%.
In the House, 100 of the 103 Democrats earned perfect grades based on nine scored votes. The exceptions were Dels. Jon S. Cardin (Baltimore County), 89%; Aletheia McCaskill (Baltimore County), 88%; and Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-Lower Shore), 67%.
Del. Kevin B. Hornberger (Cecil), was the highest-graded Republican, with a 56% score. Seventeen Republican House members got grades of 0: Dels. Carl Anderton (Wicomico), Steven J. Arentz (Upper Shore), Lauren Arikan (Harford), Brian Chisholm (Anne Arundel), Barrie S. Ciliberti (Frederick), Mark N. Fisher (Calvert), Jefferson L. Ghrist (Upper Shore), Nino Mangione (Baltimore County), April Miller (Frederick), Matthew Morgan (St. Mary’s), Rachel Muñoz (Anne Arundel), Ryan Nawrocki (Baltimore County), Jesse T. Pippy (Frederick), Teresa E. Reilly (Cecil and Harford), Kathy Szeliga (Baltimore County), William Valentine (Washington and Frederick) and William J. Wivell (Washington and Frederick).
Anderton has since left the legislature to take a job with the Moore administration, as an adviser on rural economic development. Muñoz plans to resign at the end of the year.
“This scorecard serves as a guide for Marylanders to see which of our elected officials prioritize our state’s environmental future,” Coble added. “It’s clear that every election and every vote matters in our journey towards a sustainable, equitable, and resilient Maryland.”
Next year, in addition to its annual legislative scorecard, LCV plans to release an analysis of Moore’s environmental and climate record in his first 2 1/2 years in office.