Advocates Expect Maryland to Drive Climate Action When Trump Returns to Washington

With Republicans on track to win control over both chambers of Congress and Donald Trump returning to the White House in January, the responsibility for keeping the clean energy transition going has passed to states. Maryland, where Democrats hold the governorship and control both chambers of the legislature, is primed to lead that charge from the front, experts and advocates believe.

“Maryland has the most aggressive short-term greenhouse gas reduction goals in the country,” said Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. “We have been a leader across the nation, and fortunately, our governor is committed to being a national leader on this. So Maryland has an important and significant role to play.” 

Even so, anxiety is setting in as residents consider what a second Trump term could mean for Maryland, including the fate of billions of dollars in federal funding granted during the Biden administration for the clean energy transition. 

During a Nov. 8 cabinet meeting, Gov. Wes Moore tried to allay some of those fears when he said that his administration had been preparing for a possible Trump victory for months. “In February, I convened my advisors to begin scenario-planning for possible outcomes of the 2024 presidential election. We have worked tirelessly for months, analyzing how Donald Trump’s plans might impact Maryland,” he said, without touching upon the specifics of his plan. 

Some state legislators and environmental advocates expect the Trump administration to rescind at least some federal funding, particularly for environmental justice programs. 

“I’m sure the Trump administration is going to try and pull those [funds] away,” said Jillian Blanchard, director of the climate change and environmental program at Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit advocacy group. “We are tracking a lot of the environmental justice grants that didn’t go to the state, to communities within Maryland and across the country, to make sure and help those grantees get all of those funds obligated before a Trump administration takes over.”

She added that a lot of the federal funding within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act has already been announced and is in the process of being awarded. “At that point, the funding is and should be protected under the Impoundment Control Act,” which prevents the president and other government officials from redistributing congressionally allocated funds, she said. 

The Inflation Reduction Act triggered the preparation of state-level climate plans, which required state and local governments to work together and build coalitions, Blanchard noted. Those plans can still be implemented with funding that’s already been awarded. 

“Maryland is a good example of taking strong climate action in advance,” Blanchard said, pointing out that Moore issued a wide-ranging executive order in April, directing state agencies to come up with climate implementation plans no matter what happens at the federal level. “All of that will take place regardless of federal support. The states have a lot of power to move things forward on climate and Maryland is one of them.”

Del. Lorig Charkoudian, a Democrat from Montgomery County, said that for decades, a majority of climate policy and action happened at the state level. The IRA and the Infrastructure Law were exceptions to that rule. 

“While we are devastated that we’re likely going to be going it alone, we will double down on our commitment to climate and specifically to a clean energy future grounded in good union jobs that build a middle class, and we can do that at the state level,” Charkoudian said. 

She pointed out that many components of the IRA are baked into tax structures and have been leveraged by both Republican- and Democrat-led states. “My hope is that because it’s so well structured and so effectively distributed across the entire country, that it will stay [despite political pressure],” she said.

The concern is whether funding for specific programs managed by federal agencies will continue under new appointees. “The second thing is regulations,” Charkoudian said, “for instance on emissions or in the case of home appliances,” which she said would have a significant impact on climate justice.

“Home appliances have an impact in terms of healthy housing and cost savings for people, especially low-income folks or people who’re paying a lot for their electricity bills. So I worry about that.”

Morgan Pinnell, managing director for the mid-Atlantic at Advanced Energy United, a clean energy advocacy group, said that manufacturing of electric vehicle charging infrastructure underway in the state could take a hit under the Trump administration “because they may dismantle the incentives and programs that create demand for it.” 

Maryland could also miss out on $69 million in efficiency rebates because the state agencies have not applied for it, she said, adding that another $100 million under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships award could be lost if the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office doesn’t close the negotiations in the next two months. “The $62 million Solar for All grant, which is part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, should be fine. But it’s fair to worry about Trump Administration scrutiny,” Pinnell noted in emailed comments. 

Justin Balik, senior state program director at the nonprofit Evergreen Action, said the Biden administration’s work getting IRA money out the door gives Moore “a huge opportunity to continue to drive clean energy development in the state, helping businesses and developers leverage all those tax incentives.” Some of those IRA incentives are credits and deductions on EVs, energy-efficient home improvements such as heat pumps, and clean energy projects. 

“State-led litigation, coalitions of states teaming up on legal defense, is going to be important.” 

— Justin Balik, Evergreen Action

States like Maryland will also need to counter actions by an incoming administration hostile toward climate action, Balik said.

“Governors are sort of the front line of the defense strategy,” he said. “They are in a position to mobilize the business community, mobilize constituencies that are actually working on clean energy projects, to speak out in terms of what these historic investments are actually delivering for communities.”

State-led litigation was a central pillar to beat back anti-climate efforts in the last Trump term, when California and attorneys general from several other states, including Maryland, filed over 70 climate and environmental lawsuits against the federal government, he said. 

“If you go back to the George W. Bush administration, Massachusetts joined 11 other states in challenging the EPA, which resulted in the federal government being required to regulate greenhouse gas pollution,” he said. “State-led litigation, coalitions of states teaming up on legal defense, is going to be important.” 

States will also need to do more within their own borders to keep decarbonizing big sectors, from buildings and construction to power and transportation, Balik said.

“I think Gov. Moore is positioned to do that. We also know that clean energy is creating jobs and lowering costs across America, and it remains a huge economic opportunity for states to bring in new investment and economic development,” he said. “It really is going to be up to states to fight back against what we expect to be President-elect Trump’s climate denial and to accelerate their own ambition.”