Governor Larry Hogan,
The coronavirus pandemic shows what happens when our elected leaders ignore warnings from scientists.
Climate scientists have been similarly ignored, and Maryland residents are at risk. We have the second-most communities of any U.S. state at risk of coastal flooding. We are projected to go from 6 days a year over 95 degrees Fahrenheit to 62 days a year. We already see 2,000 Marylanders die prematurely every year from air pollution. Your agency's research shows a $28.6 billion hit to the economy by 2050 as a result of climate change costs.
As we look to recover from the economic shutdown, we cannot go back to business as usual.
We urge you to put climate actions at the core of your economic recovery by:
- Approving the 40+ large solar projects stuck in your administration’s regulatory process;
- Standing up against the Trump Administration’s reckless subsidization of fossil fuels;
- Preventing any cuts to renewable energy grants or energy efficiency funding in your proposed budget adjustments to the Board of Public Works;
- Coordinating with non-profits and the private sector to plant millions of new trees, as well as ensuring all existing forests and urban tree canopy are properly maintained;
- Shifting funding within your transportation budget to backfill the shortfall in capital needs throughout Maryland’s public transit system and propose new bus and rail lines; and
- Expanding the state’s annual energy efficiency gains from 2% to 3%.
These are actions your Administration can take right now to not just bring back the more than 12,000 clean energy jobs lost from March through May, but create tens of thousands of additional good-paying jobs.
Scientists are calling for action. Unemployed workers are calling for opportunity. Students are calling for a livable future. Will you answer?
