ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland climate advocates are urging the state legislature to immediately allocate resources to climate and clean energy, amid concerns that federal funding will dwindle under President-elect Donald Trump.
A coalition of climate activists and other organizations is worried Trump will reduce federal dollars to Maryland and what that might mean for the state’s climate protection policies.
Maryland’s Climate Pollution Reduction Plan calls for an investment of $1 billion annually into clean energy projects. But this could be hard to meet without the money the state was expecting from a Democratic president.
So the advocates are pushing for passage of the Responding to Emergency Needs from Extreme Weather, or RENEW, Act. This plan would collect fees from the oil and gas industry to pay for the effects of climate change.
“In order to withstand climate impacts and to transition to clean energy fast enough, Maryland needs to increase its source of dedicated funding for climate,” Jamie DeMarco, a prominent climate lobbyist representing the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, told Capital News Service. “The federal government will not be providing those funds under the Trump administration, and Marylanders shouldn’t be left footing the bill.”
A week after the election, climate activists now face the challenge of navigating its implications. Trump has already indicated that he intends to scale back federal regulations and does not share the same priorities as these activists when it comes to environmental protection.
That means that when Trump takes office in January, these climate plans will be on a different footing. Trump is already moving quickly, naming several members of his cabinet, including the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump said in a statement this week that Lee Zeldin, the intended nominee for EPA administrator, “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards,” according to the Washington Post and other news organizations.
Later on Fox News, Zeldin remarked that within the first 100 days of the Trump administration, Republicans will “roll back regulations” that are causing businesses to “struggle” and are “forcing” them to move overseas, according to the Post.
Across the country, activist groups are expecting a complete reversal in climate actions from the current administration, as reported by the Sierra Club. The group says the green resistance movement is defiant and ready to fight back.
Greenpeace pointed out Zeldin’s low national environmental score of 14%. The Environmental Defense Fund plans to watch Zeldin’s confirmation process closely, emphasizing the need to keep up the momentum of the global clean energy race.
In Maryland, activists are focused on the same things.
“We need to make the polluters pay and use those funds to turbocharge clean energy and adaptation measures in Maryland,” DeMarco said.