We are facing a climate emergency that poses a grave threat to the future of our planet. Experts report that natural disasters have cost the United States more than $450 billion over the past three years, and are projected to cost $54 trillion globally by 2040. Those numbers fail to convey the devastation from lives lost, and the impacts on communities displaced by increasing climate crises.
Climate change is having effects right here in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District. Warming temperatures pose challenges for ski tourism in Garrett County, Frederick has faced drought warnings as farmers grapple with the threats warming temperatures pose to crops, and the extreme storms last summer in Washington County were part of a pattern of extreme weather across the District.
As a Delegate, I am advancing a bold climate agenda, while creating jobs and promoting economic opportunity for small businesses. As I shared with the Cumberland Times News, responding to the climate crisis can create jobs right here in MD-06. I’ve sponsored legislation to create the Climate Technology Founders Fund to boost climate startups here in Maryland, as well as legislation to make it easier for construction companies to afford construction equipment that is carbon emissions free. I co-sponsored the expansion of the Clean Trucks Act of 2023, the Community Solar Energy Generating Systems Program, as well as a bill that would allow the Maryland Attorney General to prosecute any publicly traded entity that unlawfully contributed to climate change.
In Congress, I will:
COSPONSOR the 100% Clean Economy Act, setting a national goal of achieving a 100% clean economy by no later than 2050, requiring each federal agency to develop and implement a plan to rapidly achieve that national goal, and empowering the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor, evaluate, and report on the progress of the United States in achieving the national goal.
PROTECT the climate measures of the Inflation Reduction Act, providing financial incentives to galvanize greater investment in green technology at the municipal, industrial, and consumer levels on everything from electric vehicles and residential efficiency improvements to carbon sequestration and green energy production
COSPONSOR the Clean Competition Act, encouraging international decarbonization, as well as increase American industrial competitiveness by ensuring domestic producers are not disadvantaged by more stringent American environmental standards
COSPONSOR the Environmental Justice For All Act, outlining provisions to address the disproportionate negative health and environmental effects of federal laws and programs on communities of color, low-income communities, or tribal and indigenous communities; prohibiting disparate impacts on the basis of race, color, or national origin; enabling aggrieved persons to seek legal remedy when faced with such discrimination; raising coal, oil, and gas royalty rates to create a funding source to support fossil fuel-dependent communities and displaced workers as they transition away from fossil fuel industries; and creating a White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council charged with issuing a holistic environmental justice strategy
COSPONSOR the Climate Adaptation Plan Act, directing the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a competitive grant program to facilitate the development of climate adaptation plans for low income and rural communities across the country
COSPONSOR the HOPE for HOMES Act, helping homeowners retrofit their homes to cut their monthly energy costs, stimulating the energy efficiency market for jobs and suppliers, investing in workforce training for this crucial industry, and combating the climate crisis by promoting clean, energy efficient technology
COSPONSOR the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator Act, establishing and funding an independent, nonprofit accelerator charged with investing in clean energy technologies and infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and making capital available to state, territorial, or local green banks
COSPONSOR the National High Speed Rail Act, investing $205 billion to build a national high-speed rail network, create more than 2.6 million direct jobs over five years across the country, and make high-speed rail a competitive option against carbon-intensive modes of travel such as road and air travel
COSPONSOR the ZEVs Act, directing the EPA to set a schedule for increasing the percentage of zero-emission vehicles a vehicle manufacturer must deliver for sale, culminating in a requirement to sell only zero-emission vehicles from 2035 on
REVIVE the American Clean Energy and Security Act, establishing a cap and trade system for the United States under which a limit on national carbon emissions is set by the government and a marketplace is established for companies to buy or sell permits to emit these greenhouse gasses. Such a measure would allow the federal government to establish a clear, incremental path to decarbonization by 2050, but allow market forces in the private sector to determine the most cost-effective methods to facilitate that transition