Sierra Club & Partners Submit Sign-On Letter to Maryland Commission on Climate Change

To: Maryland Commission on Climate Change

Re: Maryland Commission on Climate Change 2018 Draft Annual Report

Dear Commissioners:

We, the undersigned organizations, appreciate the opportunity to provide comments on the Commission’s Draft Annual Report for 2018. Specifically, we are offering comment on the draft Commission Recommendations, section 4.1.

We are severely disappointed that—despite years of research, analysis, and public discussion identifying effective pollution reduction strategies – the 2018 Draft Commission Recommendations for the most part include suggestions simply for additional research and discussion, rather than implementation of the actions and strategies already identified. We request the Commission move forward a set of recommendations more reflective of the urgency of the threat of climate disruption, balancing the value of further research with actionable policies.

Maryland is a member of the U.S. Climate Alliance, which establishes climate action principles consistent with the Paris Agreement, an unprecedented global commitment to climate action ratified by over 180 countries.  The Climate Alliance consistently commits to action, including a recent commitment from member states and partners to work toward a goal of at least 50 percent carbon-free electricity across North America by 2025 and several states committing to the Powering Past Coal Alliance[1] – a commitment from signatories to responsibly move past coal in the power sector in a way that empowers communities into the clean energy economy.[2] 

Yet, the Draft Annual Report of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change offers no specific additional pollution-reduction recommendations, nor does it follow up on many past recommendations. We commend the intent of  the recommendations and acknowledge the Commission’s authority is limited; however, the items listed in Section 4.1 of the draft report do not provide enough substantive details in pursuit of tangible pollution-reduction policies or programs. 

The transportation sector is now the largest source of climate pollution in the state; however, the draft report recommendations fail to suggest any specific pollution reduction measures for the sector. If the draft report were finalized, this would mark the second year in a row that the Commission has failed to recommend enhancements or innovations to pollution reduction programs and policies for our largest source of emissions. At the same time, the Commission has failed to put forward any clear prioritization for an approach to expanding clean energy targets in Maryland. Despite multiple clean energy proposals brought to the General Assembly and to the Commission’s Mitigation Work Group, the Commission has avoided providing any significant guidance on this topic in the Draft Annual Report to either the General Assembly for the 2019 legislative session or the Maryland Department of the Environment for its Draft Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan.

Throughout the year, the Commission’s Mitigation Work Group heard from several members of the public and stakeholders who suggested concrete action by the state; however, in the month of August 2018, the Mitigation Work Group voted to eliminate the vast majority of definitive, additive pollution-reduction recommendations from consensus “support.” If the Draft Annual Report were to be finalized as distributed, the Commission would be failing to provide substantive guidance on steps the state can take to enact and implement beginning in 2019. 

The scale and urgency of the climate crisis is becoming clearer each day. The most recent published report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change commissioned as a direct result from the Paris Agreement -- Global Warming of 1.5 ^oC -- has made our challenge and its consequences clear. If we do not act more aggressively and with a greater sense of urgency, we will face truly dire repercussions. We need our state’s independent commission on climate change to provide actionable leadership. At this time, the Commission’s Draft Annual Report does not meet that need, but we are hopeful that the final report will have more substantive mitigation recommendations within it.

Respectfully,

Sierra Club