Updates from the Governor

February 22: Our Fight Against Global Climate Change

This week, I had the chance to meet with environmental advocates and legislators from across our State to discuss the Global Warming Solutions Act, a forward-looking bill that would make Maryland the leader in the fight against global climate change.

To protect our quality of life and the priorities of our people, we must begin by making changes to become a more sustainable State. The Maryland that we leave for our children and our grandchildren is threatened by pollution and a rapidly changing world, so we must act now to build a better future for our State.

With this legislation, we have the opportunity to join other leading states in this effort, and create thousands of green jobs across Maryland to help our economy, while protecting the air that we breathe, the Bay that we love, the land that we use, and the health of our families and neighbors. Our plan would require a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gases from all industries in Maryland by 2020 and a 90 percent cut by 2050, one of the most ambitious and achievable goals in the nation.

Working together, we have already taken important strides for our environment over the course of the last year - among other things, passing the Clean Cars Act, partnering with our neighbors in RGGI, using BayStat to monitor the health of our Bay, and setting the EmPOWER Maryland goal of reducing energy consumption 15% by 2015. We still have a long way to go, but working together we can ensure a better future for generations to come.

 

Sincerely,

Martin O'Malley
Governor

 

[ recent update - previous update ]