Policy Solutions for a Renewable & Resilient Maryland

TNC’s greatest strength is our network of skilled staff working across our nation and around the globe. When it comes to increasing renewable energy generation, our technical expertise and data-oriented solutions offer valuable insights into the potential for renewable energy development in our region. Our efforts in Maryland will emphasize localized, community-driven approaches to maximize impact. TNC will focus on expanding renewable energy projects in Maryland while integrating environmental and community justice perspectives. Our GIS and policy staff will collaborate to ensure that siting decisions are both scientifically sound and equitable. Additionally, we will connect legislators with resources from across our organization to facilitate small-scale project permitting and zoning at the local level, allowing for smoother project implementation.

At TNC, we recognize the importance of reforming existing renewable energy incentive structures to ensure that they are delivering the greatest possible environmental and economic benefits and align with the most up-to-date research. Maryland’s current Renewable Portfolio Standard is in need of an upgrade to remove the existing renewable energy incentives going toward trash incineration – our state is quite literally throwing away money to subsidize a practice that makes our air less clean and it’s well passed the time to invest in cleaner solutions.

The previously discussed issue exemplifies for us that not all renewable energy is created equal; there are big differences between what it means to be renewable, sustainable or clean. When we change our incentive structure, it must promote energy that meets all three of these descriptions. The grid and its energy sources must be reliable and resilient. Marylanders need energy security, but also sustainable and equitable access to clean energy sources and healthy air quality.

TNC will also be looking to address Marylanders’ transportation and mobility needs through an equitable, collective, sustainable and comprehensive approach. We believe in the need to include both on and off-road strategies. We support policies that will reduce energy consumption and reliance for the various transportation modes and infrastructure in our state. We also support building decarbonization methods such as retrofitting buildings with heat pumps and installing efficient appliances with a reduced carbon footprint over their life-cycle.

Funding climate mitigation efforts must be a priority even when experiencing fiscal constraints. Investing in climate solutions saves lives and prevents costly disasters. Climate mitigation investments now are less expensive than disaster relief in the future. These investments allow for a healthier population and a more resilient economy. Through strategically identifying and investing sources of revenue, we can work to maintain and efficiently manage the budget to fulfill state climate goals.

TNC seeks to promote a comprehensive and inclusive dialogue to increase both private sector and community participation in climate investment opportunities and decisions, as well as dynamize the public sector’s contributions. Everyone has a role to play in our joint future. We will strive for a sensible approach that takes into consideration the characteristics, challenges and strengths of each group and advances equitable solutions.

Our climate adaptation work in Maryland protects water quality and improves climate resilience at a variety of critical intervention points throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This includes capturing stormwater in cities, working with farmers to reduce nutrient runoff, protecting and restoring critical habitats—like wetlands and oyster reefs—and building resilience in coastal communities.

Throughout the legislative session, TNC advocated for the Whole Watershed Act, championed by Senator Sarah Elfreth, Senator Katie Fry Hester and Delegate Sara Love. This new legislation prioritizes $20 million in state funding for five waterway restoration projects over five years within the Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Bays watersheds in Maryland. The selected waterways will represent diverse geographies and land use types, with a priority for environmental justice communities. The “whole watershed” approach requires practices that provide multiple co-benefits to support the entire watershed and local communities’ health. This program will identify impaired watersheds across our state and conduct a comprehensive planning and permitting process to improve water quality on an expedited timeline. The goal is to rapidly remove selected watersheds from the impaired waterways list, thereby improving water quality for humans and habitats across our state.

Maryland’s vibrant coastline needs legislation like the Whole Watershed Act. We are grateful to the leaders in the legislature and administration who sponsored and supported the program, and to our partners at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Maryland League of Conservation Voters for spearheading this science-based and inclusive approach.

TNC has been investing our resources in deep listening and learning with coastal community partners. Environmental justice and equity are essential for allocating climate adaptation resources, but we have a long way to go for fully incorporating equity-based criteria across Maryland’s state grant programs. Accessible and equitably distributed resources must be prioritized to meet the urgent and unique needs of communities facing the first and most extreme climate change impacts. In the 2024 legislative session, we saw some progress on both incorporating environmental justice considerations into decision-making processes, as well as investing in flood management for coastal communities.

New changes to the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Protection Program were made this session. These changes integrate climate adaptation, enhance critical area resilience and support environmental justice in coastal Maryland. The legislation requires the Critical Area Commission to assess critical areas needs with climate change impacts in mind, including sea level rise, wetland migration, storm surge, increased precipitation, coastal flooding and other extreme weather events. It authorizes the Critical Area Commission to adopt regulations governing: (1) development rights transfer; (2) fee in lieu payments; (3) assessing and adapting critical areas for climate resiliency; (4) enhancing resilience in the critical area; and (5) environmental justice and equity initiatives. This policy establishes considerations for climate change, climate resiliency and equity as general principles and minimum elements of local programs.

A new Comprehensive Flood Management Grant Program, led in the legislature by Senator Alonzo Washington and Delegate Julian Ivey, will require that Governor include in the annual state budget an appropriation for the Comprehensive Flood Management Grant Program of up to $20 million starting in Fiscal Year 26. This bill integrates environmental justice considerations by establishing that at least 40% of funding provided under the Comprehensive Flood Management Grant Program will be used for projects directly benefiting historically underserved, overburdened and marginalized communities. The new funding stream and the environmental justice considerations in this program present an opportunity to catalyze innovative flood management planning. It will bring much needed funding to local governments, allowing them to build flood resilience capacity within their own communities.

Climate change impacts are disparate and are not felt equally by all Marylanders. These impacts, including flooding, often burden those who already face historic inequities. Coastal communities’ needs when facing the first and most extreme flooding in our state, especially on the Eastern Shore, have gone unmet for a long time. Planning for climate change’s uncertain impacts, including flooding after storm events, is a highly local and place-based process that is necessary to identify solutions that can meet the unique needs of each community. We need to continue advocating for strong, environmental justice-focused adaptation legislation to tackle the interconnected nature of the climate crisis with equity at its heart. TNC is working with community-led organizations, environmental justice leaders, state and local government officials and national non-governmental organization partners supporting equitable access to funding for adaptation resources in order to get communities the support they need to manage intense and unpredictable climate impacts.