Maryland Sierra Club Highlights of 2024

2024 was a standout year at the Maryland Sierra Club. With a now seven-member staff and inspiring leaders and volunteers in every corner of the state, we organized, strategized, knocked on doors, gathered in person and online, enjoyed outings, hosted rallies, tried new things, connected, cared for otherers, and celebrated. All of these things were valued and valuable, because they either represented fighting for big wins or planting seeds for the future. And sometimes they did both! 

If you are inspired and want to support this work, DONATE TODAY.

Our Chapter Chair Carlo Sanchez shared this wisdom at our end of year event just a couple of weeks ago:

In this season of uncertainty at the national level, we can see even more the value of our work preparing the soil and building our strengths for opportunities and challenges to come.

It would take a novel to capture all our work and successes this year. But this overview will give a sense of the year and some of the things we are proudest of, including our wins (harvests) at the state and local level and how we are preparing the soil for future growing seasons and harvests through direct action, leadership development, lobbying and organizer trainings, and coalition building.

When you are inspired (maybe now) please consider a donation to help us be even stronger in 2025. To get involved with any of these efforts, email zoe.layton@mdsierra.org.

Promoting Clean Transportation for All

We envision a transportation system that protects our climate and provides all Marylanders with reliable access to jobs, food, education, healthcare, and recreation while keeping us safe and healthy.

Transportation and Climate Alignment Act

This year we built a strong coalition and co-led a campaign to push for the passage of a state bill known as the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act. This legislation would shift state investments away from polluting highway expansion projects towards more clean, affordable transportation options including public transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and development projects that bring jobs and housing closer to where people live. The bill passed this House and Senate committees this session but ran out of time on the last day of the General Assembly. Since then, we have been working with the Maryland Department of Transportation and other partners in an informal workgroup to make updates to the bill that will strengthen the policy. We will be advocating for the bill as one of our priorities this session and look forward to seeing it cross the finish line in 2025.

Funding Investments in Public Transit, Walking, Biking, and Vehicle Electrification

We were pushing for measures this year to avoid major proposed cuts to funding for the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) and the Locally Operated Transit Systems due to budget constraints. During the legislative session, we successfully lobbied for budget amendments that would raise between $250-$350 million dollars to address our state’s $3.15 billion dollar fiscal imbalance for transportation. These revenues can help fund our public transit systems and vehicle electrification programs. We have been working to ensure the new funds are invested in a way that best addresses our climate and equity goals. 

Transit to Trails

This October the Chapter held its first Transit to Trails Hike at Patapsco Valley State Park in Catsonsville, Maryland. This transit accessible hike occurred during the National Week Without Driving that helps raise awareness about the transportation challenges for people that do not drive. Over 20 people attended this hike on a beautiful autumn weekend and learned more about our transportation campaigns. We also partnered with the TAME Coalition on a hike to raise awareness and discourage building the M-83 highway in Montgomery County.

Hike to raise awareness about M83 highway, in partnership with TAME Coalition

Moving to 100% Clean Energy

Our Clean Energy Campaign works to transition Maryland away from polluting sources of energy — for our electrical grid and in our homes. We work to power our state with 100% clean energy like solar and offshore wind while transitioning away from coal and gas. We promote energy efficiency and the shift from fossil heating to efficient electric appliances.

Saving Marylanders Energy and Money Through Energy Efficiency

Our biggest win on energy was helping pass the bill to update and strengthen the EmPOWER Maryland energy efficiency program to help Marylanders conserve more energy, lower utility bills, and reduce pollution that harms our health and planet. These reforms are a key step to help ensure that Maryland can meet its climate goals. 

Advancing Offshore Wind

This year we continued and grew our advocacy for offshore wind in Maryland. In August, we hosted an Offshore Wind 101 webinar for members and supporters statewide, which featured guest speakers including Lower Eastern Shore Group Chair, Christina Hulslander and US Wind representative, Dave Wilson. We’ve also increased our regional advocacy as Sierra Club, coordinating closely with other Chapters including the Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia Chapters on comment periods and shared campaign narratives.

Offshore wind projects in the state also continue to advance! In September, the Biden Administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued its final approval of US Wind’s offshore wind project in Maryland, marking a major milestone for the project. We’ve continued to engage throughout the permitting and regulatory process, filing written comments, testifying publicly, and turning out supporters statewide to share their support for wind in Maryland.

Engaging on Data Centers

This year, the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter dove into the challenge of data centers, which includes understanding the environmental impacts and establishing proper regulation of this growing industry. Starting last fall, the Chapter researched the potential environmental impacts of data centers and developed recommendations for policy makers. We also provided testimony on data center-related legislation during the 2024 legislative session. National Sierra Club attorney Dori Jaffe represented us at the Maryland Association of Counties Winter Conference presenting results of Sierra Club’s new report, “Demanding Better.” We are educating ourselves and policy makers on changes needed in this sector and will continue this work in 2025.

Exposing the Health Risks of Cooking with Gas

In November, we jointly released a new report about the health harms of gas-burning stoves/ovens in Maryland and DC kitchens – “Cooking Up Danger”! The report was released as part of a collaboration between Beyond Gas Maryland and Beyond Gas DC, which includes Sierra Club, Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA), and Action in Montgomery. It was based on nearly 700 kitchen tests conducted by community scientists; nearly two-thirds of kitchens tested had nitrogen dioxide levels that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s health standard for sage outdoor exposure. Read the full report and watch the launch webinar here.

As part of our work with Beyond Gas, the Maryland Chapter also held our first NOx kitchen testing training in August in Montgomery County. A dozen of us gathered at the home of the chapter conservation chair to learn about the science behind the study, practice the kitchen testing protocols, and build momentum for our building electrification campaigns.

Growing the Climate Movement

Growing Maryland’s Climate Movements with Climate Partners

Maryland Sierra Club is a proud member of Climate Partners, a coalition of over one hundred environmental, faith, consumer advocacy, and social justice organizations focused on ensuring equitable implementation of the Climate Solutions Now Act (CSNA). Last year, the coalition put forth its recommendations for climate action in Maryland; since then, we've been organizing public comments, meeting with state agencies, and so much more! This work includes quarterly in-person meetings with the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Secretary Jake Day and policy staff.

This year, with leadership from the Sierra Club team, Climate Partners has raised over $250,000 to fund the coalition’s first full-time coordinator, which will be hosted by Climate Partner Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, and will provide important support to the Sierra Club and full coalition as we work to advance impactful climate policy in 2025. 

Climate Leadership from the Governor’s Office

In February of this year, Governor Moore announced plans to dedicate $90 million towards the implementation of Maryland’s climate goals as part of the administration’s 2024 fiscal budget. This investment is an important first step and down payment towards the policies laid out in the state’s Climate Pollution Reduction Plan. In June of this year, Governor Moore signed an executive order that jumpstarts enactment of major components of the Climate Pollution Reduction Plan. 

Advocating for Zero Waste

The Chapter Zero Waste Team strives to minimize waste and greenhouse gas emissions by promoting source reduction and reuse, and recycling or composting waste that can’t be prevented, following the International Zero Waste Hierarchy of Highest and Best Use. Zero Waste Teams and leaders in nine local Sierra Club Groups launch local campaigns on waste issues at the municipal and county level. They are supported by a Chapter Leadership Team with a representative from each participating Group and technical experts, to coordinate and facilitate actions across Groups and address statewide waste issues.

Reducing Single-Use Plastic Carryout Bags and Incentivizing Reuse

Powered by the grassroots action of Sierra Club Groups and allies, “Bring Your Own Bag” bills were rolled out in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Prince George’s Counties and the town of Centreville (Queen Anne’s County), and a ban on plastic carryout bags was launched in Frederick City. BYOBag bills prohibit retailers and restaurants from providing plastic carryout bags that are not reusable, establish a robust definition of reusable bag, and require retailers to charge a minimum amount for paper and other carryout bags. 

Sixty-two volunteers conducted re-surveys of 127 grocery stores and 16,022 shoppers in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties, Centreville, and Frederick City, to measure the impact of the legislation. The results were impressive! In Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties, single-use plastic carryout bags virtually disappeared and the share of shoppers bringing their own carryout bag or not taking one climbed from 12-15% before to 69-72% after the bill. The remaining shoppers purchased paper bags for 10 cents. These strong results were critical in defeating attempts mid-year by opponents in Easton, Anne Arundel, and Prince George’s Counties, to remove the charge for paper bags, which is the incentive to bring a bag or not take one. A new BYOBag bill was passed in Annapolis, set to begin in January 2025, and a bill was introduced in the Montgomery County Council that would ban plastic carryout bags and increase their paper carryout bag tax from 5¢ to 10¢, with technical support from the Zero Waste Team. Passage of the Montgomery County bill would raise the share of Marylanders living in a jurisdiction with a BYOBag bill to 70%, setting the stage for an eventual state-wide bill in 2026 or 2027.

Reducing Litter Through Producer Responsibility for Beverage Containers

This year saw growing momentum for the Maryland Beverage Container Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Program (the “Maryland Bottle Bill”). By putting a small, 10-15¢ refundable deposit on the sale of beverages in plastic, metal, and glass containers, this bill would dramatically reduce beverage container litter, increase the recycling rate for beverage containers from 25% to 90%, remove 3.6 billion beverage containers from the environment annually (of which 2.3 billion are plastic bottles), provide high-quality recycled materials for new containers, create jobs, and save costs for local government, since the program would be entirely funded by beverage producers.

In 2024, there was both a House bill and a Senate cross-file bill heard in committees in both chambers. The Chapter led a Maryland Bottle Bill Coalition of nearly two dozen environmental, civic, and religious organizations in January that met weekly throughout the General Assembly session and monthly for the rest of the year to generate greater awareness of beverage container litter and support among other environmental groups, municipalities, counties, and state legislators.

The Coalition sponsored a very well attended virtual rally in February, prior to bill hearings. Sierra Club activists, working through local Groups, have been lobbying about 40 municipalities and counties for their support, as organizations representing them had not taken a position on the bill during the 2024 session and would financially benefit from the bill. The response has been strongly positive. Coalition members sponsored very impactful litter-oriented events, culminating in the endorsement of the bill by Senate President Bill Ferguson and an endorsement from the Baltimore Sun in November. The bill also got media coverage on the Eastern Shore through presentations by the Lower Eastern Shore Group and a Bottle Bill Happy Hour in Ocean City, co-sponsored by the Surfrider Foundation. The bill has been selected as one of three priority bills by the Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE). Plans are underway for an in-person rally and webinar during the 2025 session.

While there was no Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging bill introduced in 2024, the Maryland Department of the Environment established a Producer Responsibility for Packaging Advisory Council, as required by a scaled back bill passed in 2023. The Council is charged with making recommendations to the General Assembly on an EPR for Packaging Program in Maryland, and reviewing the pending Recycling Needs Assessment. Martha Ainsworth, Chair of the Chapter’s Zero Waste Team, was appointed to serve as one of the two environmental representatives on the Council, which has been meeting since the summer but has yet to make recommendations. In the meantime, the Chapter continues to support and promote legislation that would make producers responsible for increasing recycled content in plastic beverage containers, food containers, and household cleaners and personal care products.

Taking Legal Action to Fight Climate Change and Protect Marylanders and the Environment

Following through on a yearslong legal effort, the Maryland Chapter of Sierra Club, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Natural Resources Defense Council filed an appeal this year of the district court’s decision on the Beltway/I-270 toll lanes project. The outcome of the appeal will be determined in 2025.

In a new development in 2024, the Maryland chapter piloted providing lawyer-assisted comments on several local issues, including a currency production facility in Prince George’s County and zoning of a controversial plastic waste incinerator proposed in Howard County. In both cases there was back and forth engagement and raising of important issues that were taken into account, to various extents, in subsequent actions and decisionmaking.

Over the past year, Sierra Club Maryland has advocated for transportation electrification, building electrification, and renewable energy adoption before the Public Service Commission and other state agencies. We have:

• advocated for more proactive planning to ensure PJM, the regional grid operator, takes more steps in advance to replace retiring coal plants, such as the Brandon Shores coal plant
• commented in support of the rapid and equitable buildout of new renewable energy resources, including offshore wind and solar, as well as energy storage
• participated in a technical conference on resource adequacy, which is aimed at ensuring Maryland’s grid is upgraded and expanded to meet its future needs
• emphasized the need to better distribute federal rebates for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles, such as electric buses, and to prepare the electric grid to handle the new need for electricity that is created by these new electric vehicles. 

On the building electrification front, we:

• advocated for the Commission to require utilities to apply for -- and make customers aware of -- federal federal rebates and tax incentives for electric appliances and equipment in buildings
• successfully urged the Commission to open a "future of gas" docket, which would concentrate on winding down Maryland’s gas system and reinvesting the millions of dollars spent on new gas pipes in electrification measures instead
• provided legal support for Zero-Emission Heating Equipment Standards, Building Energy Performance Standards, and a Clean Heat Standard, all of which would significantly reduce emissions from Maryland’s buildings and protect Marylanders from harmful indoor air pollution.

There will be many more opportunities to continue these kinds of advocacy in 2025.

Passing Impactful State Legislation and Laying the Groundwork for Future Successes

Every year we hold a lobby night, where we organize members and allies all across the state to meet with their legislators and discuss our environmental priorities for the session. In 2024, we turned out over 200 members from all across the state. 

By the end of the session, we helped pass HB 864 to update Maryland's energy efficiency program, EmPOWER! This was one of our three priority bills. The enacted reforms will help Marylanders lower their energy bills and reduce their exposure to harmful emissions from gas appliances. They will also move Maryland closer to meeting its climate goals by reframing the program goals around greenhouse gas emissions, facilitating fuel switching from gas to electric, and adding new incentives for energy efficient electric appliances.

We have reason for optimism for future progress on the other two bills in the upcoming legislative session. 

Many other excellent bills passed as well, and our Chapter and your support played a part. We submitted written testimony on over 120 bills and provided oral testimony and consultation on many of these.

During the 2024 legislative session, we supported successful passage of bills and budget items that will:

• Encourage solar deployment on rooftops and other preferred sites (the Brighter Tomorrow Act)
• Establish pilot projects for networked geothermal energy production (the WARMTH Act)
• Provide funding to help address WMATA's (D.C. area Metro) operating budget gap
• Require minimum funding levels for the state's Locally Operated Transit Systems
• Improve bus service (Better Bus Service Act of 2024)
• Promote transit-oriented development and expand affordable housing (Housing Expansion and Affordability Act of 2024)
• Require paint producers to take responsibility for the collection, reuse, recycling, and disposal of leftover house paint
• Require producers and sellers of synthetic turf fields to disclose typical maintenance requirements over the fields’ life cycle and the cost of removal, replacement, and disposal
• Better control sales of invasive plants in Maryland (the Biodiversity and Agriculture Protection Act)
• Expand pollinator habitat along the state’s roadsides and median strips  
• Strengthen oversight of stream restoration projects and direct funding more effectively to protect the health of the Chesapeake Bay and riparian areas (the Whole Watershed Act)
• Restrict the use of products that contain PFAS or lead as playground surfacing material.

Read more about our wins in Annapolis here.  

Electing Environmental Leaders to Local, State, and Federal Offices

Led by our political chair Rich Norling and state and local political committees, Sierra Club works to elect environmental champions at the local, state, and federal level.  

This year Sierra Club volunteers worked tirelessly in the November 2024 election, doing in-person canvassing, phone calling, and sending letters and texts in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other states. While we did not win nationwide, Maryland voters agreed with all but one of our local Sierra Club endorsements. Because of retirements Maryland had an open US Senate seat and three open House of Representatives seats. Sierra Club volunteers helped wins by Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks and new House members Sarah Elfreth, “Johnny O” Olszewski, and April McClain Delaney. 

The Greater Baltimore Group led endorsement and support for reelection of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and election of new Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen along with 11 other council members endorsed by the Sierra Club. The Howard County Group led endorsement and support of three Board of Education members who were elected. Full results are available here.

Strengthening Our Team, Hiring a Field Organizer, and Launching an Organizer Training

Last year, our talented team grew by two staff people, Climate Campaign Representative Mariah Shriner and Communications Associate Lesley Paredes. Their work in 2024 has expanded our impact to previously unseen and even unthinkable levels. Mariah has led coalition work related to climate and energy, reformed the energy committee, testified in hearings for offshore wind, and advocated on key issues across the state. Lesley has built a strong foundation for our regular communications and been able to support monthly newsletters for the chapter and groups, expand our coverage in the press, timely share our news and wins on social media, and be an all around support on our campaigns and day-to-day work. The support each member of our staff provides to the team allows us to seize opportunities for making a difference and maximize our time in areas we each have comparative advantages. 

This year in July, we were thrilled to welcome our first full-time field organizer, Zoe Layton. She has been a tremendous boost to our team and our work. She has met with volunteers and leaders across the state, enhancing our coalition work, our tabling, our outreach, mobilizing, and activism, and all our events. We have been able to continue to support Nature Forward’s Taking Nature Black and Naturally Latinos conferences, partner with them on Birds and Bocaditos this year, and table at new events, including Festival del Rio Anacostia. 

 
Birds and Bocaditos event co-sponsored with Nature Forward, October 2024

This year we held our first multi-day staff retreat, held with Chapter Chair Carlo Sanchez and Conservation Chair Shruti Bhatnagar, in Ocean City with a day trip to Assateague Island. We scoped out future challenges and opportunities and share a meal with the Lower Eastern Shore executive committee as a key component of the retreat. We would like to have subsequent annual retreats in different parts of Maryland to better know the people and issues different places are facing. The retreat also underlined how well the staff work together and how lucky we feel to be doing this important work together as a team, supporting one another and the groups and issue teams in a way that allows our collective talents and skills to improve everything we engage on.

Staff and the Lower Eastern Shore Executive Committee sharing a meal during the October 2024 staff retreat

This fall, led by Zoe, we launched our new 8-week Organizing Training Series. We're providing the opportunity for volunteers to dive into the Sierra Club's organizing model and learn the skills necessary to organize a diverse base of people across Maryland with the power to win! So far 25 leaders have participated, and we're excited to expand this program in the future! 

Showing Up in Community, Highlights from Our Dynamic Local Groups

The Maryland Chapter has nine local groups where local volunteers – Anne Arundel County, Catoctin, Greater Baltimore, Howard County, Lower Eastern Shore, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Southern Maryland, and Washington County. Below are some highlights from a few of them, showcasing the power and difference we can make in our communities through collective action.

Anne Arundel County Sierra Club Group

2024 was a year of outreach and advocacy for the Anne Arundel Group. Through Lobby Night, tabling events, partnering with other environmental activist groups, and many phone calls and lunch meetings, they have grown our ExCom into a healthy, active, functioning group! In 2024, the group joined forces with SurfRiders to shepherd the City of Annapolis through adding their own Bring Your Own Bag Bill, closely aligned with the Anne Arundel County Act. It was signed into law this summer! The bill prohibits retailers from distributing single-use plastic carryout bags and requires a 10-cent charge for paper bags as a disincentive. In July and August, under the mentorship of Martha Ainsworth, the group conducted a comprehensive survey of 27 stores and more than 3,000 shoppers at grocery stores throughout the county, amassing evidence that 72% of shoppers were bringing reusable bags or not using any bag at all! Only 28% of shoppers chose to purchase a paper bag. The group observes, “This was a huge success, and we were able to document it beyond a doubt!” When a bill was introduced mid-fall to weaken the act and remove the 10-cent fee, the group mobilized through member emails, Zoom meetings, Action Alerts, and letters to the editor, calling for opposition to this hostile bill. Member response was strong, with many members submitting written testimony to the Council or testifying in-person to oppose the bill. And they won! The Bring Your Own Bag Act remains intact, reducing single-use waste from not only plastic bags, but paper bags as well.

 

Greater Baltimore Sierra Club Group

Group Chair Deborah “Spice” Kleinmann reports: “We had a wonderful year at the Greater Baltimore Group of Sierra Club. We testified for the Gas Leaf Blower Ban in Baltimore City. We endorsed so many people that got elected in Baltimore County and Baltimore City. We worked on helping stop development in Harford County in Abington Woods after the developer had already taken down over 70 acres of forest. We worked on Native Plants advocacy as well as educating many in the city and Baltimore County about synthetic turf. We have a wonderful group working on transportation issues in Baltimore City like the Red Line, as well as getting our Outings Group going. Zero waste is always being worked on as well.  We also supported BICO (Baltimore Inspiring Connections Outdoors) with money and volunteering. The picture below is a trip in Baltimore Harbor with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and students from Digital Harbor High School. We did some fishing for microorganisms, oysters, fish, and jelly fish. The students are helping with building oyster shelves among other environmental solutions.”

Howard County Sierra Club Group

The Howard County Group ExCom met 10 times and group members participated in Lobby Night, discussing Sierra Club’s priority bills with legislators virtually. Throughout the year, the group tabled in many venues including GreenFest, Youth Climate Institute Outreach, Ellicott City SpringFest, Phelp’s Luck Environmental Fair, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Festival, and Fall Fest. Their new Zero Waste Team had a new display to engage the public on waste reduction. The group held outings to a falls, on a trail, and to a recycling facility, and continues to advocate for Electrify HoCo, a campaign to support building electrification on the county level, in partnership with HoCo Climate Action and the group Electrify HoCo. The group gave county-level testimony on multiple issues including enhancing protections of wetlands, streams and steep slopes and the update to the 10-year solid waste plan, and zoning for a plant that would have incinerated plastic near a residential area. The group is planning a 2025 educational series at the Howard County Public Libraries with the goal to increase member participation as well as outreach to the general community. Their talks will focus on local and statewide environmental issues.

Prince George’s County Sierra Club Group

In 2024, the Prince George’s County Sierra Club Group focused on engaging the local community through educational events, outings, service projects, tabling events, and community science. It also frequently testified with written and oral comments at County Council hearings about local land use decisions, budget priorities, tree conservation regulations, electrification, and more. The group hosted an impactful webinar on data centers just prior to a council hearing on them. The Group’s Zero Waste Team is comprised of an impressive 60 members and supporters who meet monthly throughout the year, focusing in 2024 on: the rollout and implementation of the County’s carryout bag ordinance, demonstrating its effectiveness via a repeat shopper survey; generating local support among municipalities and environmental groups for statewide beverage container deposit legislation to reduce litter; and education of members and the public on zero waste themes. Don’t miss the section on educational events, outings, and the third annual ecoaction art contest in collaboration with county schools. The details of their work, events, and collaborations are inspiring, read more here.

Southern Maryland Sierra Club Group

The Southern Maryland Sierra Club Group awarded a $1,000 scholarship for first place and two $300 scholarships to further the education of three graduating high school seniors in Southern Maryland. They held outings in all three counties the group represents, including a hike and fossil search, “owl prowl” at a wildlife preserve, and hikes in state and regional parks. Continuing their tradition of supporting gardening and tree planting, the Southern Maryland Group built raised garden beds for groups that are providing produce to food pantries and who want to beautify their surroundings and reduce stormwater runoff (this year for Camp Maria Retreat Center in Saint Mary’s County and at a community park in Charles County). In a new activity, they held a clothing swap to help cut down on clothing that is sent to landfills and mitigate the environmental impact of creating new clothing.

Local activism and outings happened in every group around the state throughout the year. Explore, enjoy, protect is our motto. Join us!
 

Celebrating Wins to Boost Morale

On December 15, we held a special event and fundraiser to celebrate the year’s wins and the people who helped make them happen. Seventy people attended. It felt important to recognize all we accomplished together as we head into a year of unknowns. We can still know what our goals are and what we can accomplish in Maryland, even if things nationally are uncertain. Jake Day, Secretary of Maryland's Department of Housing and Community Development, gave a rousing keynote on the intersection of housing and climate. He stressed the urgency of building more housing and more affordable housing in Maryland following the principles of smart growth. Anne Arundel Group Chair Bernie Robinson MC’d the event and Carlo Sanchez, Rich Norling, Joanne Zoller, and Zoe Layton also spoke about the chapter’s work and successes. The layout of refreshments, posters, a slideshow of activities across the state, and a get-to-know-you bingo card facilitated opportunities to connect with both old friends and people just met or previously only known virtually. Those present came away inspired and with their resolve strengthened for the important work ahead.

We invite you to join us as we carry forward this important work and more in 2025.

Sierra Club’s power, our ability to make change, comes from all of you. We are strong and effective because of our amazing volunteer leaders, our staff, and our donors, and because we help everyone learn the tools to make change. If you are inspired, please volunteer and join us.

If you know friends and family who are looking to contribute to a cause please tell them about the Sierra Club. Invite your loved ones to share. If you know someone who loves the environment who is looking to get involved please connect us.

If you want to get involved with our lobby night this year, to meet with legislators to talk about environmental priorities, RSVP for Lobby Night at sc.org/mdlobbynight2025.

If you can donate your time or have a skill that you think would be valuable to the organization, please consider us.

If you are proud of our collective work and can donate, we stretch every dollar to our best possible, every dollar helps, so anything you can give today is a big help. If you have capacity, please make a generous gift. Make a tax deductible donation to support our education and outreach, or a non tax deductible donation which we can use for all purposes, including legislative and political work.

We invite you to join us as we carry forward this important work and more in 2025. Forward and share this year in review with your friends and family to help increase our impact by growing the number of Sierrans in Maryland.

To all those who volunteered in 2024, thank you for your time, leadership, vision, and commitment and for helping make our Maryland Chapter so strong and effective. To all those who donated or plan to donate, thank you more than we can say. We have plenty of work ahead but also terrific momentum from all that we are building on with past work and relationships and partner groups.

Let's make 2025 the year of the bottle bill and much more!

Thank you so much for all you do.

Carlo Sanchez, Chapter Chair

Josh Tulkin, State Director

Paula Posas, Deputy Director