Act on Climate and Help Us All Breathe Easier

Climate change and climate disruption are real — 97 percent of climate scientists agree. As Marylanders, we believe that we do better when we embrace and acknowledge the science, the truth and the reality of our situation. We know that we must be willing to stand up for what we believe in and work together to make the better choices needed to achieve better results in improving the health and security of our people and improving the sustainability of our way of life.

As we continue to recognize Earth Day during the month of April and the actions of those everywhere working to protect and improve our planet; it is what the Maryland League of Conservation Voters work toward all year round. People all around the world are coming to a deeper understanding that to protect our planet we need to move from economies of global depletion to local economies of renewal and regeneration. That’s true for the food we eat, the way we protect our health, the way we fuel the needs of our economy, our buildings, our vehicles, and our way of life. Solar power, wind power and other renewable energies will help us to embrace this better and more prosperous way of moving forward.

As Governor O’Malley has said time and again, Maryland is among the states most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including severe weather and sea-level rise. Maryland has an obligation to do all we can to protect our land, infrastructure and, most importantly, our citizens, and to make sure we are safe and prepared.

For the past seven years, the people of Maryland have been taking strong actions to reduce our carbon footprint, improve our air quality, invest in clean technology and create green jobs. Under the leadership of the O’Malley-Brown Administration, Maryland has set some of the most ambitious goals in the nation forreducing greenhouse emissions, advancing cleaner, renewable energy, protecting the health of our children and elderly, rebuilding our shorelines and creating green jobs.

Maryland has also advanced offshore wind, on-shore wind and solar energy policies. Maryland partnered with eight other Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states on the nation’s first cap-and-trade auction of greenhouse gas emissions, reduced harmful pollutants in our air by more than 80 percent, passed landmark clean cars legislation, created a sustainable communities tax credit and created incentives to help homeowners and businesses utilize clean energy and buy zero emission vehicles.

We are also making the better choice of planning and mitigating for the inevitability of sea level rise and increases in different types of extreme weather. Through Governor O’Malley’s Executive Order and his work on the President Obama’s resilience task force, Maryland is working together with stakeholders to find solutions.

Recently, Climate Central ranked Maryland as sixth in the nation for power outages due to extreme weather. Climate change is increasing instances where heat waves are hotter, rain events are heavier and winter storms are colder, more frequent and more intense.

This extreme weather affects millions of people and causes extensive, costly damage. We must be prepared for the increase of extreme weather as it puts our people, our economy and our health at risk. And we must continue to support those that working to mitigate against and plan for these potentially catastrophic events.

Marylanders recognize the connections between the changes in our climate and our air quality and health during Air Quality Awareness week, April 28 through May 3, 2014. We urge all Marylanders to be prepared for the changes in our air quality and our climate. With spring upon us, not only are our days getting longer, but as the temperatures rise, smog forms more readily and acts as a trigger for asthma and other respiratory problems. While climate change is poised to worsen air pollution and respiratory diseases, we can all take actions that will both protect our health and benefit the climate.

Since climate change and air pollution have many of the same sources (such as fossil fuel combustion and emissions), actions that we take to curb greenhouse gas emissions also help improve our local air quality and ultimately our health.

For all these reasons, during Earth Month, Air Quality Awareness week and every day take action to protect our air, health and our climate:
Urge your elected officials to act on climate today: Visit our website and sign our petitionurging Maryland legislators to invest in clean energy and green our grid, creating thousands of good Maryland jobs in the process.
Invest in Clean Energy: One way to reduce the amount of air pollution we have is to invest in clean energy and green our grid. Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires that 20 percent of Maryland’s Electricity be generated from renewable energy sources by 2022. Governor O’Malley’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan calls for it to be increased to 25 percent by 2020. You can ask your utility provider to invest in clean electricity from solar and wind or if you own your home, you can look into alternative forms of clean energy through grants.
Breathe Easier: Air pollution doesn’t have to make you sick – you can do something about it. Learn more about what days sensitive populations should avoid pollution exposure by referring to the Maryland Air Quality Index (AQI).
Walk or Bike Where You Go: We all know that vehicles contribute to air pollution. Take a few minutes to think about how you contribute to air pollution and how you can limit your impact. If you can, try to walk or bike to the store, to school or to work or try other alternatives.

Learn more about Maryland’s comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan and what Maryland is doing to #ActonClimate at climatechange.maryland.gov

Karla Raettig
Executive Director
Maryland League of Conservation Voters