ANNAPOLIS, MD – This past week, Governor Wes Moore talked with CNN about the Baltimore Banner story that confirms his military service, he invested $31.5 million in Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts, announced $43 million for new community solar projects, and highlighted his military service, Maryland’s record drops in violent crime, and creating 55,000 new businesses in Maryland on MSNOW.
Key Excerpts From Governor Moore’s Interview With CNN:
Gov. Moore: When I was 17 years old, I joined the army. When I was working a career in finance, I left and I deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan–every time we could have chosen safety or financial benefit or anything along those lines, I raised my hand to serve because this country asked. And I know for myself and the people I serve with, we would do it again if asked.
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Gov. Moore: Well, I think the article helps to highlight that when I say that, you know, we led soldiers in combat, that we did that. My job was serving as a director of information operations, where I was leading a team of psyops and civil affairs. My job was to go outside of the wire multiple times, multiple times a week and the thing that we know is that while my job was never to conduct offensive operations, it was the enemy’s job to conduct offensive operations against us. And we had to then turn around and respond.
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Gov. Moore: I think it is deeply slanderous and disrespectful to think that any of us would leave our family, would go deploy to some of the most dangerous places in the world, would go and leave a wire, knowing that there is a very distinct and real possibility that you’re not going to come back. That we all then now have to deal with the realities that we have friends who lost their lives overseas or who came back remarkably different. And to think that we did it for a political purpose–I did not serve because of politics, and I could care less about how this impacts my political career. I didn’t serve because of medals or awards or recognition. I served, we served, because we believe in this country and because this country asked us to. And any type of insinuation that we would have risked our lives for something other than the fact that this country asked us to, I find to be not just deeply disrespectful to all of us, but slanderous.
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Gov. Moore: We are enjoying the freedoms we have because there are people who are willing to sacrifice on behalf of it. There were people who were willing to give and lose their lives if necessary, because the country asked. And I think by trying to come after me or anybody from a political perspective, that’s just not who we’re supposed to be. And that’s not who we are. And particularly for something that I am so proud of. The army helped to save my life. It helped to give me direction. It gave me a foundation. It gave me a purpose, and I would do it over again if asked. I was willing to sacrifice everything because I knew this organization gave me so much, and I just want to make sure that the service that we conducted in Afghanistan, the service that the men and women who I was proud to serve with that that never is disparaged or that it never is dishonored, particularly by people who might have a political motivation in the way they’re trying to do it.
Maryland To Invest $31.5 Million In Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Efforts
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will be investing $31.5 million in grants in the Chesapeake Bay and 188 sites across the state, Gov. Wes Moore announced on June 11.
Moore said the funding is going toward 25 ecological restoration projects that will improve water quality and wildlife habitats. The Department of Natural Resources estimates that projects will reduce about 45,100 pounds of nitrogen, 6,400 pounds of phosphorus, and nearly 8,900 tons of sediment each year. Nitrogen and phosphorus can create algae that cloud the water and reduced dissolved oxygen when they die off, creating challenges for marine life.
“The Chesapeake Bay is the centerpiece of our tourism and seafood industries in Maryland,” Moore said. “It’s a key part of our cultural identity and the place where countless family memories are made. These new investments represent our commitment to continuing to improve the Bay, its surrounding watershed, and the rivers and streams that connect our communities.”
Maryland Awards $43 Million for Community Solar Projects
Governor Wes Moore announced 69 grants totaling $43 million to support community solar projects across Maryland.
The funding is intended to expand access to solar energy for residents who rent their homes or cannot install solar panels on their properties, while providing discounted electricity to low-income households.
According to the Maryland Energy Administration, the projects are expected to provide electricity savings of at least 25% to more than 4,800 low-income households, with additional energy assistance reaching more than 1,000 households through the Maryland Department of Human Services. The funded projects include rooftop solar installations, solar arrays on capped landfills, and agrivoltaic projects that combine solar energy production with active farmland.
Key Excerpts From Gov. Moore and Rye Barcott’s Interview On MSNOW’s Morning Joe:
Gov Moore: In this time of this political vitriol, particularly when everyone just kind of just hunkering off in their corners about how we think about things, we’re forgetting about the basic aspect of the thing that brought these military veterans to the military in the first place, or these people in service to their service in the first place. It was never about a political alignment, it was never about a partisan alignment, it was about a belief that we can be part of something bigger than ourselves, and I think, especially in this moment, that’s the way we work, the way that we fight.
I don’t care what a political party thinks about it, we’re going to make sure we’re fighting for our people, we’re going to make sure we’re protecting them, we’re going to make sure we’re advancing their economic interest, but that is something that I know that each and every one of us learned distinctly, not just through our the way we were raised, but by the way we were trained, and I think that matters.
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Gov Moore: What courage actually looks like is being able to not just know that you are standing by your people, but you’re standing by the oath that you took, and if that means that you’re going to go against the order of a president or anybody else, then that’s exactly what it means. That’s what courage is supposed to look like.
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Willie Geist: So, right, as you look at the five, the 10 names on this list, five Democrats, five Republicans, military service, they all have in common, but what else is the common thread there? What do you see in all 10 of these people?
Rye Barcott: Well, it starts with service… I spent this time with folks getting to understand why what drove them to that, that, that decision to put their name on the line. By the way, less than 2% of Americans now serve, whether it’s in the military or in civilian services, but a lot of young Americans are feeling lonely. They’re feeling a loss of a sense of purpose. Service brings us that purpose. I got the title from something that Wes was saying on the campaign trail, which is that service will save us and courage is a form of service. And so that was the genesis of the title.
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Gov Moore: We got a great story to tell, and I’m thankful that people are paying attention to the fact that we’ve created over 55,000 new businesses since our administration has come on board. We have the fastest drop in violent crime anywhere in the United States of America, in Maryland. Baltimore City, for example, [the] last time the homicide rate was this low, I wasn’t born yet. We’ve created the first state in the country that has a service year option for all of our high school graduates. The first in the country who now has a state-led place-based investment strategy to deal with child poverty. So, we’re really proud of the momentum that we’ve been able to do to be able to give the middle class a tax cut, to be able to make sure we’re providing economic opportunities, particularly in this climate, and I’m excited that the people of Maryland actually get a chance in November to say whether or not they like the job.
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Rye Barcott: Do you mind if I just jump in one minute on political courage? Because one of the examples of Governor Moore started right when you decided to campaign, because he decided to avoid the advice of your campaign advisors, which were saying, “Hey, you can’t win on a topic that you believe in…
Gov. Moore: Yeah, they said, you can’t talk about the word poverty, you know, poverty doesn’t poll well, poverty is not a good word. And I said, then I don’t know why I’m running. We have a society that tolerates child poverty in a way that we should never tolerate–this and that children’s destiny is being decided before they even have a say. So, I said that we are going to make the foundation of this campaign, that we are going to end child poverty in Maryland, that we are going to talk about it everywhere we go–even if we don’t win. And in our first year, we’re able to do things like make a permanent child tax credit, have an enhanced earned income tax credit, raise the minimum wage inside of the state of Maryland, the largest mass pardon in the history of the United States of America, where I pardoned over 175,000 misdemeanor cannabis convictions to give people a second chance at the workforce, to be able to make the large investments in child care in our state’s history. We can end this scourge of child poverty if we actually have the courage to do so. And I think in Maryland, that’s what we’re doing.
Contact: Carter Elliott IV, [email protected]