Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain during a February 2024 climate change news conference with Gov. Wes Moore (D). File photo by Bryan P. Sears.
Twenty-five state agencies in recent weeks have outlined their plans for helping Maryland combat climate change.
The documents are in response to an executive order on climate last year from Gov. Wes Moore (D), which among other things directed government agencies to develop climate implementation plans to help reduce carbon emissions in the state.
“This is an unprecedented effort to focus on climate change as one government,” said Maryland Secretary of Environment Serena McIlwain, whose agency coordinated and released the report listing all 25 agencies’ climate strategies.
The plans — alphabetically, from the Department of Aging to the Department of Veterans and Military Families — vary by department and range from four pages to more than 20, tailored to the agencies’ specific missions. Broadly speaking, the plans include more than 100 actions for the state to meet Maryland’s ambitious climate goals and hit many of the same points agency-by-agency, including workforce development for green-energy jobs, electrifying vehicle fleets, making state buildings more energy efficient and diversifying the state’s energy portfolio.
Each department has also identified federal grants it will pursue in the future — even though federal funding for climate initiatives and clean energy sources may dry up under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. The state has received about $13.5 billion in federal climate funds since Moore became governor two years ago, the administration said.
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“We don’t have to choose between a green economy and a growing economy — we can, and we must, build both at the same time,” Moore said in a statement. “By mounting an all-of-government approach to climate action, we will cut emissions, lower costs, and create more than 27,000 Maryland jobs.”
Some state agencies are clearly on the front lines when it comes to fighting climate change, including the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
MDE, for example, is charged with developing weighty and long-lasting regulations that should dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including standards that will limit the use of fossil fuels to heat and cool buildings. The agency said it would also use the state’s membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which sells pollution credits for electric plants powered by fossil fuels, to set new standards for carbon emissions.
The DNR is putting together an array of programs, from forestry and wetlands management, to innovative land management schemes, to promoting locally produced woody biomass for the generation of thermal energy and electricity, that should aid the state’s battle against climate change. The Department of Agriculture, through its land preservation programs, healthy soil initiatives and promotion of agroforestry, also plays a role.
MDOT is at the forefront of the state’s climate plans, from developing electric vehicle infrastructure to mitigating traffic congestion to expanding and promoting transit use, to implementing its “Complete Streets” initiative designed to make communities less dependent on cars.
MEMA is hiring a full-time “meteorological hazards analyst” and gathering real-time data about how climate change impacts communities and what threats exist for Maryland during weather emergencies. It is also creating a “resilience tool kit” for local governments and will look for philanthropic help to support the state’s climate efforts.
MEA doles out clean-energy grants across the state, but is also working to accelerate solar deployment in the state and is boosting its efforts to educate consumers about green energy incentives.
But smaller agencies can also play a role in the climate battle.
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The Maryland Department of Planning, for example, describes itself as the lead agency to promote sustainable growth in Maryland — and now operates a Sustainable Growth Subcabinet within state government.
In its report, the Department of Aging acknowledged its “supporting role” in helping the state address carbon emissions, but also said that by emphasizing climate it can ensure a healthy senior population.
“By prioritizing Maryland’s older adults in climate change decisions, the proposed plan will improve health benefits, increase job creation, and reduce energy costs,” the agency wrote. “These outcomes support MDOA’s ongoing efforts to enable healthy longevity and become a state where all Marylanders lead healthy, financially secure, socially connected, and purposeful lives.”
The Department of Veterans and Military Families said one of its top priorities on the climate front would be assessing the climate vulnerabilities of veterans’ cemeteries and facilities across the state.
Several agencies, including the Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor, the Department of Juvenile Services, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, and the Department of Service and Civic Innovation, have all pledged to help develop a green-energy workforce for the state. The Commerce Department has also promised to redouble its efforts to recruit more clean-energy companies to Maryland.
Some state agencies are limited by what they can offer on the climate front. While most state agencies said they would use the highest standards to decarbonize their offices and acquire electric vehicle fleets, the Secretary of State’s office vowed to “lead by example” when it comes to its green office upgrades.
The State Police warned that it is not yet able to contemplate using electric vehicles for its police cruisers and other emergency vehicles, citing the emergency equipment and lights, radar, sirens, and in-vehicle computers that drain power, in addition to all the miles traveled.
“Our specific challenge is battery life,” the agency wrote.
One state agency, the Department of Information Technology, said its top priority as the state wrestles with climate change is to evaluate the impact that data centers, prodigious energy users that Moore hopes to attract to Maryland in greater numbers, will have on emissions in the state.
The Moore administration said it has devised a suite of metrics that will be regularly tracked to ensure agencies are advancing these policies and programs, to maximize positive environmental, economic and public health progress.
“I thank my colleagues for their detailed proposals,” Moore said.
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