Ambitious Climate Bill Voted Out of Maryland Senate

The Maryland Senate passed what would be the state’s most ambitious climate action plan on Friday with some bipartisan support. The vote was 34-11.

The Climate Solutions Now Act of 2021 aims to curtail Maryland’s global-warming pollution to a level that is 60% lower than it was in 2006 within the next decade. Current law requires the state to set detailed plans and strategies to decrease pollution by 40% from 2006 levels.

To achieve the more ambitious goal, the bill also proposes planting 5 million trees, electrifying the state government’s vehicle fleet, constructing more energy efficient schools, and other efforts. The measure would also create a just transition workgroup for displaced fossil fuel workers and would add new responsibilities for the state’s environmental justice commission.

“We’ve seen islands disappear in the far Pacific and even in our own Bay, about to disappear. This is not anything we can ignore,” Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), the lead sponsor of the bill said on the Senate floor Friday. “We see here Annapolis and in Baltimore, days during flooding, people cannot get to their businesses — it is already starting to affect our economy. It is also affecting our agriculture — farmers on the Eastern Shore are losing acres of crops because of saltwater intrusion.”

Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/03/12/ambitious-climate-bill-voted-out-of-maryland-senate/