Maryland's Climate Pathway Published

July 26, 2023

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(Maryland Department of Environment/University of Maryland) Explore the comprehensive, all-of-society approach to how Maryland can reach 60% greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2031

Key Findings:

The Maryland’s Climate Pathway report demonstrates how Maryland can meet its ambitious climate goals of 60% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2031 relative to 2006 levels, and attain a net-zero economy by 2045, all while realizing health and economic benefits for Marylanders, including improved air quality, new jobs, and household cost savings.
Maryland can do this through the coordinated implementation of current and new policies across each sector of the economy, combined with a strong federal partnership and a broader all-of-society approach that integrates actions from cities, counties, local jurisdictions, business and industry leaders, community organizations, and more.
The first step is fully implementing the policies already in place in Maryland. As of 2020, Maryland had already achieved half of the reductions needed—36.7 MMTCO2e of the 73.3 MMTCO2e to meet the 2031 target. Full implementation of existing policies can achieve another 26.0 MMTCO2e by 2031, leaving one-fifth of the reductions left—a gap of 10.6 MMTCO2e that must be filled by new policy action.
This analysis offers a pathway to success to fill this gap and achieve the economy-wide 60% goal, illustrating potential actions across all sectors with additional reductions, including 3.6 MMTCO2e from transportation, 2.3 MMTCO2e from electricity generation, and 1.6 MMTCO2e from buildings.
Additional policies from the agriculture, waste, and industrial sectors, including critical reductions in methane, are needed to achieve the 2031 target and support broad economic, social, and environmental benefits for Marylanders. Taking these steps now to achieve the 2031 goals will also place Maryland on a pathway toward its 2045 goal of net-zero emissions.
At its full potential, this pathway delivers substantial health, employment, and economic benefits to Maryland’s people and further bolsters the leadership and ability of the State’s economy to be globally competitive. New policy action will deliver even more health benefits through improved air quality and reduced respiratory ailments, especially for vulnerable populations—the equivalent of $1.09-$2.44 billion in health benefits by 2031. These benefits extend to the economy with the projected cumulative creation of more than 16,000 new jobs and increased personal income by nearly $1.5 billion by 2031.
Maryland can also draw from the substantial resources being generated through federal partnerships, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which catalyzes and funds critical actions at state and local levels. With these actions, the State of Maryland can achieve its goals—and build a better future for Maryland by extending resources, cost-savings, new jobs, cleaner air, safer homes and roads, food security, and more.

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Biofuel Considerations and Trade-offs
Biofuels can be an important component of a policy for achieving emissions reductions if biofuel feedstocks can be sustainably produced. Biofuel feedstocks in Maryland would primarily come from forest residues, sustainably harvested fuelwood, or potentially dedicated biomass “crops,” such as fast-growing tree species. Because these feedstocks would compete with natural-growth forest for land, there are potential tradeoffs between biofuel production and the continued growth of forests and land carbon sinks. If improperly managed, biofuels can also have a negative impact on land use, food security, water availability, and revenue.[201] However, there are still synergies with sustainable development goals, including water quality, soil quality, and biodiversity conservation.[201] To ensure that these synergies are realized, policies must promote the sustainable development of biofuels and management best practices to prevent adverse effects. READ MORE PDF