100% renewable for Maryland

We’ve had the power to harness clean, abundant energy from the sun and the wind for decades. Today, we can do it more efficiently and cheaply than ever before. Thanks in large part to action in the states, America now produces more than three times as much renewable electricity as we did a decade ago, and renewable electricity generation in Maryland has quadrupled in the past 10 years. Maryland also just passed new legislation to expand offshore wind power in the state and make our community solar program permanent.

But Maryland is just scratching its renewable energy potential.

Given the progress we’ve made so far, combined with advances in clean energy technology and declining costs, it makes no sense to keep producing, consuming and wasting energy in ways that do lasting damage to our environment, our climate and our health. Instead, we should accelerate the clean energy transition.

That’s why we are working to pass legislation to transition Maryland to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035.

Maryland still gets most of its electricity from fossil fuels

The electricity powering our homes, our furnaces and our appliances run on oil or gas. Burning fossil fuels releases pollution into the air that harms our health, contributing to increased asthma rates, heart attacks, and even premature birth.

Fossil fuels are also warming our climate, with devastating consequences for us and for future generations. Wi​th 3,100 miles of shoreline, Maryland is one of the states most vulnerable to suffer the effects of sea-level rise associated with climate change

Momentum is growing for clean energy in Maryland

Maryland has long been a leader in the transition to renewable energy, and Environment Maryland has been there every step on the way. We’ve set ambitious goals from reducing emissions from fossil fuels, incentives for increasing energy efficiency, banned fracking, and passed legislation to tap into Maryland’s vast potential for offshore wind.

Now we’re working across the state to build a people-powered movement for a cleaner, healthier future that runs on 100% renewable energy.

Why Maryland should set a goal of 100% clean electricity by 2040. 

Eleven other states have already set a 100% clean electricity goal. And we’ve seen that when states set clear goals for renewable energy, businesses and consumers respond.

As Maryland ratcheted up our goals for solar and wind, we saw solar quadruple from 2015 to 2023, with four offshore wind projects approved that are scheduled to power 600,000 average Maryland homes by 2026.

We know that Maryland can harness more power from the sun and the wind and stop adding more global warming pollution to the atmosphere. That’s why we’re calling for the state to implement policies that put us on track to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2035..

Together, we can move Maryland to 100% renewable energy

In 2022 Maryland passed the Climate Solutions Now Act to set Maryland on the path to net zero emissions from our buildings and transportation. 

Now is the time to act. The Moore Administration and the Maryland Department of the Environment just released their Climate Pollution Reduction Plan, which includes a policy recommendation for how to reduce  global warming pollution 60% by 2031 and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2045 as called for in the Climate Solutions Now Act  passed in 2022. The Plan calls for a Clean Power Standard requiring 100% of the electricity consumed in Maryland to be generated by clean and renewable sources of energy by 2035. It also includes a suite of policies that will reduce global warming pollution and help us repower Maryland with 100% renewable energy. But we need all hands on deck to make sure these policy proposals become reality.

In the 2024 legislative session, for example, we’re expecting policy proposals to:

• Help Marylanders move off fossil fuels to use clean, efficient electricity to power their homes.
• Create new incentives for solar power adoption and streamline solar permitting.
• Clean up our renewable energy program by stopping subsidies for trash incineration.

We need your help. The first thing you can do is join us in calling on Governor Moore and State Legislators to implement polcieis to help achieve 100% clean energy by 2035. The second is to support Environment Maryland and our work to power the state with clean, renewable energy.

We can turn the tide on climate change and ensure a better world for our kids and grandkids —  but we need your help.