BREAKING: Wes Moore unveils aggressive climate agenda for first 100 days

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June 30, 2022

Wes Moore unveils aggressive climate agenda for first 100 days

In wake of Supreme Court ruling gutting the EPA’s authority and siding with polluters, Wes Moore builds on  aggressive climate agenda

Moore stands with Maryland League of Conservation Voters, key climate partners

BALTIMORE (June 30, 2022) – Leading Democratic candidate for Maryland governor Wes Moore today unveiled an aggressive agenda to combat the climate crisis in his first 100 days in office, if elected governor. 

Standing at Middle Branch Park in Baltimore with leaders from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, state legislature, and city council, Moore detailed a commitment to pull every lever in state government to address the climate crisis.

“The urgency of the climate crisis is here. We owe it to ourselves, our state, and our future generations to take bold actions now,” Wes Moore said. “That is why within my first 100 days I am calling for eight specific actions to ensure Maryland meets the ambitious climate and environmental justice goals embedded in legislation passed during the recent legislative session.”

Moore was joined by leaders from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, which delivered its coveted endorsement to his campaign earlier this month; as well as Del. Kumar Barve (District 17),  chair of the Environment and Transportation Committee; Baltimore City Delegation Chair Delegate Stephanie Smith (District 45); Baltimore City Councilmember Mark Conway (District 4); and several more leaders from across the state. 

The announcement came just hours after the Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 ruling gutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate dangerous emissions for polluters. 

“At a time when the need for leadership and action has never been more urgent in the climate fight, this aggressive plan demonstrates exactly why the Maryland League of Conservation voters is so proud to endorse Wes Moore to be our next governor,” said Kim Coble, Executive Director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters.

Moore unveiled an aggressive and comprehensive approach to partnership and governing, with a commitment to:

1. Ensure accountability at the highest levels of government

• Appoint a Chief Sustainability, Mitigation and Resilience Officer (CSMRO), a senior official in the Governor’s Office, and direct that individual to work with communities, agencies, the private sector, federal partners, etc. to oversee the implementation of the State’s climate plan and identify the top immediate actions Maryland can take to reduce emissions by working with state agencies, climate stakeholders, and community members. 

2. Begin the transition to 100% clean electricity and build a clean energy workforce

• Call on the General Assembly to require that 100% of Maryland’s electricity be produced by clean sources by 2035 and for at least 80% of electricity to be produced by clean sources by 2030, including specific expansion of offshore wind and solar (both utility scale and community) projects.
• Direct Maryland’s Department of Labor to engage labor organizations, institutions of higher education, community leaders, the business community and other key workforce advisors to assess clean energy workforce needs and begin developing a plan to train and educate Marylanders to fill positions in the green economy.

3. Hire additional climate change staff to begin implementing the Climate Solutions Now Act

• Immediately direct the Maryland Department of Budget and Management to approve and prioritize funding for the two dozen additional staff the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) will need to successfully implement the Climate Solutions Now Act.

4. Develop a formal partnership with Maryland’s institutions to more effectively achieve targets

• Begin engaging Maryland’s world-class institutions of higher education, including our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, about entering into a formal, long-term partnership to develop a comprehensive and transparent plan to meet technical and human resource needs to fight climate change. These partnerships will build on and leverage capacities inside and outside government to ensure state and local agencies, communities, stakeholders, and workers have access to up-to-date climate information to guide our work and allow us to meet our targets. 

5. Maximize State capacity by aggressively competing for every available federal, public and private dollar

• Review the list of formula funds and competitive grant opportunities that have been announced by President Biden and develop a process to draw down every federal dollar available to Maryland. That includes seeking funds from the Carbon Reduction Program to develop a State Transportation Carbon Strategy Plan with local governments, as well as funding for transmission upgrades to support solar and offshore wind capacity expansion in Maryland. 
• Develop a plan to set aside funding to meet match requirements and begin developing reports and community partnerships required to obtain funding. 
• In recognition of the impacts of climate change and their effects on the Bay, position Maryland to access large flood reduction project funding, such as the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities FEMA grant, that protects people and improves water quality. 

6. Prioritize Environmental Justice funding to underserved and overburdened communities

• Identify and set aside funding to support Maryland’s low-income households, and direct the MDE’s Building Energy Transition Implementation Task Force to send me a plan for mobilizing public and private funding to improve living conditions and reduce energy costs for all low-income households statewide.
• Direct the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to begin conducting a transit equity analysis, performing a cost-benefit analysis, consulting with members and leaders of affected communities, and taking specified actions based on the results of these activities. 
• Direct all agencies to begin applying a Justice 40 and low and moderate income (LMI) lens to budgeting decisions for urban and rural communities so we are allocating funding to communities historically disenfranchised and overburdened by environmental pollution. 

7. Aggressively fight to reduce transportation emissions

• Direct the MDE to include in the State’s next climate plan an incentive program that will help to make new and used EVs more affordable to own than comparable gas-powered vehicles, and direct the MDOT to prepare a plan to ensure that our EV charging infrastructure in Maryland supports older, low cost EVs. 
• Direct the MDOT to develop a plan that addresses the significant financial, environmental, and environmental justice flaws identified in public comment to the draft environmental impact statement on the proposed I-270 plan, and ensure it includes improved affordable, accessible, and reliable transit.

8. Aggressively protect our Chesapeake Bay and improve Maryland’s water quality

• Direct immediate staff increases at agencies that have been decimated over the past eight years, ensuring the protection of public health and water quality standards by increasing the capacity of the agency to effectively regulate polluting facilities like wastewater treatment plants. 
• Direct the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture to provide five recommendations to rapidly accelerate projects and practices that both improve water quality and sequester carbon, such as forested buffers and soil health measures. 

Moore released a comprehensive plan to build a cleaner, more prosperous Maryland in January of this year. The plan includes commitments to generate 100% clean energy by 2035, protect our environmental assets like the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways, combat the pollution that disproportionately burdens low-income communities and people of color, as well as to appoint a Chief Sustainability, Mitigation, and Resilience Officer to ensure coordination, accountability and enforcement of these goals. Additionally, Moore and his running mate former Del. Aruna Miller are committed to bringing organized labor, businesses and training providers together to create green apprenticeship programs that lead to quality, green careers so communities that have been impacted the most by climate change benefit from this work and are not harmed in the new economy.

In his bid to become the next Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore has earned the support of U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-5); U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-7); Former U.S. Rep. Albert Wynn (MD-4); Governor and former Prince George’s County Executive Parris Glendening; Former Democratic nominee for Governor Ben Jealous; Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks; Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman; Former Baltimore County Executive Don Mohler; Former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith; Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy; Senate President Bill Ferguson (District 46); Sen. Malcolm Augustine (District 47); Senate President Pro Tempore Melony Griffith (District 25); Sen. Arthur C. Ellis (District 28); Sen. Brian Feldman (District 15); Sen. Guy Guzzone (District 13); Sen. Antonio Hayes (District 40); Sen. Mike Jackson (District 27); Sen. Cheryl Kagan (District 17); Sen. Delores Kelley (District 10); Sen. Susan Lee (District 16); Sen. Obie Patterson (District 26); Sen. Paul Pinsky (District 22); Sen. Ron Watson (District 23); Former Sen. Nathaniel McFadden (District 45); Senate candidate C. Anthony Muse (District 26); Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Adrienne Jones (District 10); Del. Marlon Amprey (District 40); Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (District 13); Del. Ben Barnes (District 21); Del. Kumar Barve (District 17); Del. Lisa Belcastro (District 11); Del. Regina Boyce (District 43); Del. Chanel Branch (District 45); Del. Talmadge Branch (District 45); Del. D. Antonio “Tony” Bridges (District 41); Del. Ben Brooks (District 10); Del. Frank Conaway, Jr. (District 40); Del. Debra Davis (District 28); Del. Jessica Feldmark (District 13); Del. Wanika Fisher, (District 47B); Del. Jim Gilchrist (District 17); Del. Andrea Harrison (District 24); Del. Terri Hill (District 12); Del. Rachel Jones (District 27B); Del. Anne Kaiser (District 14); Del. Cheryl Landis (District 23B); Democratic Caucus Chair Del. Jazz Lewis (District 24); Majority Leader Del. Eric Luedtke (District 14); Del. Maggie McIntosh (District 43); Del. Edith Patterson (District 28); Del. Roxane Prettyman (District 44A); Del. Susie Proctor (District 27A); Del. Mike Rogers (District 32); Del. Sandy Rosenberg (District 41); Speaker Pro Tem Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes (District 37A); Del. Emily Shetty (District 18); Del. and Baltimore City Delegation Chair Stephanie Smith (District 45); Del. Geraldine Valentino-Smith (District 23A); Del. Melissa Wells (District 40); Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (District 20); Del. Nicole Williams (District 22); Former Del. Karen Britto (District 16); Former Del. Gene Counihan (District 15);  Christopher Stevenson, candidate for delegate in District 24; Joe Vogel, candidate for delegate in District 17; Washington Grove Mayor and former MCDCC Chair Darrell Anderson; Baltimore County Councilmember Cathy Bevins (District 6); University Park Councilmember and Mayor-Elect Joel Biermann; Bowie Mayor Pro Tem & Councilmember Adrian Boafo; Baltimore City Councilmember John Bullock (District 9); Hagerstown City Councilmember Tiara Burnett; Morningside Mayor Bennard Cann; Acting Cambridge Mayor Lajan Cephas; Charles County Commissioner Thomasina Coates (District 2); Baltimore City Councilmember Zeke Cohen (District 1); Baltimore City Councilmember Mark Conway (District 4); Baltimore City Councilmember Eric Costello (District 11); Prince George’s County Councilmember Tom Dernoga (District 1); Bowie City Councilmember Michael Esteve (District 11); Prince George’s County Councilmember Mel Franklin (At Large); Kensington Mayor Tracey Furman; Prince George’s County Councilmember Danielle Glaros (District 3); Prince George’s County Councilmember Sydney Harrison (District 9); Prince George’s County Council Chair Calvin Hawkins (At Large); Gaithersburg Councilmember Lisa Henderson; Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (At Large); Baltimore County Council Chair and Councilmember Julian Jones (District 4); Hagerstown Mayor Emily Keller; Hagerstown City Councilmember Tekesha Martinez; Prince George’s County Councilmember Johnathan Medlock (District 6); Laurel Mayor Craig Moe; Pocomoke City Councilmember Todd Nock (District 4); Baltimore City Councilmember Phylicia Porter (District 10); Baltimore County Councilmember Tom Quirk (District 1); Baltimore City Councilmember Odette Ramos (District 14); Poolesville Commissioner Ed Reed; Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin; Riverdale Park Councilmember Richard Smith (Ward 1); Laurel Councilmember Brencis Smith (Ward 2); Baltimore City Councilmember Robert Stokes (District 12); Prince George’s County Councilmember Rodney Streeter (District 7); Prince George’s County Councilmember Deni Taveras (District 2); Baltimore City Councilmember James Torrence (District 7); Prince George’s County Councilmember Todd Turner (District 4); Forest Heights Mayor Calvin Washington; Former Prince George’s County Councilmember Derrick Leon Davis (District 6); Former Kensington Mayor Pete Fosselman; Former Gaithersburg Councilmember Yvette Monroe;  Former Baltimore Mayor Jack Young;  Candidate for Prince George’s County Council Eve Shuman; Former Maryland Democratic Party chairs Michael Cryor and Susie Turnbull; Former Chair of the Public Service Commission Kevin Hughes; Former Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board Royce Hanson;  3.14 Action Fund; African Americans in Howard County; The AFRO American Newspapers; Baltimore County West Democratic Club; The Baltimore Fire Officers Union Local 964; Coalition of Asian Pacific American Democrats of MD; Collective PAC, one of the nation’s largest organizations working to build Black representation in government; Impact, a leading national organization supporting the Indian American and South Asian community; Ironworkers Local #5, a progressive union representing over 1,000 ironworkers; The Maryland League of Conservation Voters; The Maryland State Education Association; Thurgood Marshall Democratic Club; VoteVetsPAC, one of the top veterans advocacy organizations in the country.

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