Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed bills into law on Friday that are designed to change how millions of homes and trucks are powered in Maryland, with the goal of reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Moore said the legislation — which drew criticism from Republican state lawmakers — will help the state move closer to its goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2035, positioning Maryland at the forefront of states taking action to blunt the impacts of climate change.
Flanked by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore), Moore said the new laws “speak to a future where the air is cleaner, a future where our energy grid is more resilient, a future where power is drawn from nature instead of consistently being in conflict with it.”
Under the offshore wind energy law, the state aims to quadruple the amount of energy produced by offshore wind from about 2 gigawatts to 8.5 gigawatts of power.
The bill signing was held at Tradepoint Atlantic, the former home of Bethlehem Steel, which was once the world’s hub of steelmaking and now hosts dozens of companies, in tandem with an announcement from Orsted. The Denmark-based clean energy company, which specializes in wind turbines, committed to build a staging area at the site for wind energy infrastructure.
The new Clean Truck Act comes on the heels of executive action taken last month to phase out new gas-powered car sales by 2035 and becomes the latest move by Maryland officials to tighten environmental rules.
Maryland is one of 17 states that agreed to follow California’s emission standards, which federal law allows to be more aggressive than the standards in place by the federal government.
The Democratic supermajority legislature moved on the legislation despite pushback from Republicans who argued that Maryland’s economy and infrastructure is not the same as California’s and that the requirements will ultimately impact state residents financially.
The House Republican Caucus issued a statement on Friday calling the pieces of legislation “radical,” and an affront to Maryland consumers.
“This bill, along with the enactment of the California Car Ban the Moore Administration pushed through in March, will further overtax our electrical grid here in Maryland and increase costs to consumers,” said House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany). “Maryland is already a net importer of energy every year. We have no idea if our electrical grid will be able to handle these additional demands.”
Moore said that the actions being undertaken are evidence-based and data-driven.
Change is hard, he said, when asked about phasing out gas-powered cars in a meeting with members of The Washington Post editorial board this week. “But my point is that is why we’ve got to get to work because it’s something that I know is possible and I know can be done.”