Advocates Expect Maryland to Drive Climate Action When Trump Returns to Washington

by Aman Azhar (Inside Climate News) In the wake of national Republican victories, the path to effective environmental action could run through Democrat-led state houses. Is Maryland up to the task? -- With Republicans on track to win control over both chambers of Congress and Donald Trump returning to the White House in January, the responsibility for keeping the clean energy transition going has passed to states. Maryland, where Democrats hold the governorship and control both chambers of the legislature, is primed to lead that charge from the front, experts and advocates believe.

“Maryland has the most aggressive short-term greenhouse gas reduction goals in the country,” said Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. “We have been a leader across the nation, and fortunately, our governor is committed to being a national leader on this. So Maryland has an important and significant role to play.”

Some state legislators and environmental advocates expect the Trump administration to rescind at least some federal funding, particularly for environmental justice programs.

“I’m sure the Trump administration is going to try and pull those [funds] away,” said Jillian Blanchard, director of the climate change and environmental program at Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit advocacy group. “We are tracking a lot of the environmental justice grants that didn’t go to the state, to communities within Maryland and across the country, to make sure and help those grantees get all of those funds obligated before a Trump administration takes over.”

She added that a lot of the federal funding within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act has already been announced and is in the process of being awarded. “At that point, the funding is and should be protected under the Impoundment Control Act,” which prevents the president and other government officials from redistributing congressionally allocated funds, she said.

The Inflation Reduction Act triggered the preparation of state-level climate plans, which required state and local governments to work together and build coalitions, Blanchard noted. Those plans can still be implemented with funding that’s already been awarded.

“Maryland is a good example of taking strong climate action in advance,” Blanchard said, pointing out that Moore issued a wide-ranging executive order in April, directing state agencies to come up with climate implementation plans no matter what happens at the federal level. “All of that will take place regardless of federal support. The states have a lot of power to move things forward on climate and Maryland is one of them.”

Del. Lorig Charkoudian, a Democrat from Montgomery County, said that for decades, a majority of climate policy and action happened at the state level. The IRA and the Infrastructure Law were exceptions to that rule.

“Governors are sort of the front line of the defense strategy,” he (Justin Balik, senior state program director at the nonprofit Evergreen Action) said. “They are in a position to mobilize the business community, mobilize constituencies that are actually working on clean energy projects, to speak out in terms of what these historic investments are actually delivering for communities.”

State-led litigation was a central pillar to beat back anti-climate efforts in the last Trump term, when California and attorneys general from several other states, including Maryland, filed over 70 climate and environmental lawsuits against the federal government, he said. READ MORE