Tag: Maryland

We’ve all heard the story: the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate, more hurricanes are on the way, and we’re fast on the road towards catastrophic climate change. So it’s a good thing that Maryland is starting to step up to the plate on enacting significant legislation to cut our carbon emissions.

The Global Warming Solutions Act, a call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland of 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, will come before the Maryland General Assembly this spring. According to The Baltimore Sun‘s Bay & Environment page, this is one of the hottest issues for this spring’s session of the Maryland General Assembly.

Now is the time to make sure Governor O’Malley strongly supports this piece of legislation. And the people showing their strong support is the first step! Keep your eyes open for events coming soon, especially in November, designated a Global Warming Solutions Month of Action.

New! Save money, save energy, and save carbon dioxide emissions: The Maryland Energy Administration has announced four new programs “designed to save Maryland residents both energy and money”, reports Southern Maryland Online.

According to the article, the four new “EmPOWER Maryland” Programs include:

• Maryland Energy Efficient Affordable Housing Development Program – Using a $250,000 grant from MEA, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will initiate an affordable housing program to increase the energy efficiency of homes receiving funding assistance from DHCD. New homes will have to meet the national EPA ENERGY STAR Qualified New Homes energy saving target of 15 percent more energy efficient than required by code. Existing home rehabilitation projects will have to increase their energy efficiency levels by approximately 15 percent.
• Improving Energy Efficiency in Existing Homes Continue reading

Southern Maryland News reports that “On Wednesday, August 8th, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hosted the first meeting of the Maryland Climate Change Commission’s Adaptation & Response Working Group (ARWG). ” The executive order to create this Commission was signed by O’Malley back on April 20, 2007. The Commission is to develop a Maryland Climate Action Plan. The Commission also has three working groups: the Scientific and Technical Working Group, the Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Mitigation Working Group, and the Adaptation and Response Working Group.

Notice the word “Adaptation” coming up over and over again now.

The Adaptation and Response working group is chaired by DNR Secretary John R. Griffin, who says that, “If left unchecked, rising temperatures will cause devastating impacts to Maryland’s people, natural resources, and property.” This poor group is assigned the task of cleaning the Augean Stables. I mean they are supposed to “recommend strategies for reducing the vulnerability of the State’s coastal, natural, and cultural resources and communities to the impacts of climate change; and develop a comprehensive strategy for reducing Maryland’s climate change vulnerability” Continue reading

This morning in Annapolis, I was one of over 70 Maryland citizens and students gathered outside the state house to support the Maryland Commission on Climate Change and Governor Martin O’Malley. Backed by a giant yellow banner calling for science-based reductions in global warming pollution of at least 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, speakers from the newly formed Alliance for Global Warming Solutions and politicians spoke of the importance of taking real action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. The Alliance delivered over 5,000 (!!!) postcard petitions to the Governor and Commission members asking the state leaders for a firm commitment and swift action!

Last April, Governor O’Malley created the MD Commission on Climate Change to study the effects of global warming in Maryland and to make an action plan to deal with them. And believe me, Maryland may seem small, but just like in every other place, the effects of global warming will cause massive changes. Maryland, with over 3,100 miles of coastline, is the third most vulnerable state to sea level rise- after Louisiana and Florida. With just a small rise in sea level rise, Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay culture and much of the Eastern Shore will be dramatically impacted. Even Allstate Insurance Company is no longer issuing new flood policies in coastal Maryland.

And today before the Commission’s third meeting, we turned out to rally the Commission and the Governor to set firm commitments to science-based reductions of at least 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. It was incredible to see how many people had come from out of town, or taken the day off work. Armed with a giant hourglass, Claire Douglass, CCAN’s Maryland Campaign director, showed how with every passing minute and every turn of the hourglass, Marylanders are pumping 350,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere.

I was inspired by the overwhelming grassroots support and dedicated political leaders (including state Sen. Paul Pinsky and Del. Kumar Barve, who spoke at the rally). Maryland is the position to become a national leader in the fight against climate change. Click here to send an email to Governor O’Malley and the Commissioners to thank them for their support and to encourage them to make a commitment to science-based reductions.

As Claire said, “These are achievable reductions. We can do this, we must do this, but we have to act now.”

Watch how the forces have come together in Maryland to use grassroots activism in the fight against global warming. Keep up the great work CCAN members!

Environment Maryland just came out with a new report. Below is the press release and link to the report. Check it out.

New Report: Dangerous Temperatures in Baltimore

Baltimore, Maryland Continue reading

Posted on behalf of Hopkins student, Teryn Norris

Published: July 26, 2007

President William Brody of Johns Hopkins has just announced the adoption of a new climate change policy that seeks to make the university a leader in the fight against global warming. “Johns Hopkins is eager to rise to this immense challenge,” Brody announced. “As of today, I am committing The Johns Hopkins University to become a driving force for developing solutions to the climate change problem.” In a university-wide email sent out early this week, Brody set forth an ambitious initiative to be guided by a comprehensive set of principles:

carbon neutrality, the emissions of greenhouse gases produced by university operations.
• Leverage university strengths in science, technology, public health, and public policy to contribute to finding solutions to issues related to climate change on a global level.

Continue reading

Hey Folks, I just received my 5th email about Maryland’s “One Green Hour” event. Initiated by Governor Martin O’Malley, the idea is to turn off your lights for an hour on July 28th (now dubbed Maryland Energy Independence Day”). The idea may be a little hoaky -we’d prefer they turn off the coal-fired power plants for an hour. But its getting traction. I’ve received alerts from the Governor, the Democratic Party, Rep Elijah Cummings and more… So I guess that means we need to join in.Here’s the email from the Democratic Party.

CELEBRATE

Maryland Energy Independence Day

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Saving money and making a real difference for your country can be as easy as flipping a switch – OFF. More on that below.

Please join thousands of Marylanders who will use this day to commit to energy conservation for the long haul. Imagine saving money while saving the Chesapeake Bay and helping create an Energy Independent future. Continue reading

It’s official. Maryland can no longer be #2 for state climate leadership… we’re going to have to vie for #3.

Itsgettinghotinhere.org reported that “Yesterday, June 21st, Trenton voted to overwhelmingly pass the Global Warming Response Act, ground-breaking legislation that will set an economy-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions to bring levels down to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% below 2005 levels by 2050.”

Sounds familiar… except Maryland voted it down last year. The GOOD NEWS? It gives us all the more momentum to rock out this legislative session in Maryland. Read more…

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