2022 MD Governor's race: on Environment
Ashwani Jain:
Ban single-use plastic bags; achieve 100% composting
Banning single-use plastic bags is an important continuation from Maryland being the first state to ban single-use containers made from styrofoam. We need to go further and ban single-use plastic to further reduce ocean and bay waste and relieve
pressure on landfills. We must require businesses that sell food to charge five cents for each carryout plastic bag. Two of those cents should go to local governments and three of those cents should go to our MD Department of the Environment.
Another key reform will be how we address food waste as a state. When food scraps end up in a landfill, they decompose slower than they do in a compost pile.
They also produce more methane as they break down, creating harmful greenhouse gases. We should set the goal for ourselves to achieve 100% composting by 2030.
Source: Medium.com posting on 2022 Maryland Gubernatorial race
May 14, 2021
Ashwani Jain:
Help farmers afford water conservation requirements
Farmers are often required by state and local authorities to implement conservation practices that improve water quality. While these help our environment and provide more sustainability in the long-term, they can be costly to the farmers' bottom lines.
We need to invest in these small business owners and help them afford these practices. By working with the USDA, our state's Department of Agriculture can make grants and funding more available and accessible.
Source: Medium.com posting on 2022 Maryland Gubernatorial race
May 14, 2021
Doug Gansler:
Won largest environmental settlement in American history
Doug also worked to deliver environmental justice, obtaining settlements when ExxonMobil released more than 25,000 gallons of gasoline into Maryland waters and securing $4.6 billion for air quality with American
Electric Power, the largest environmental settlement in American history.Doug's work eliminated at least 813,000 tons of pollution from our state's air every year.
Gansler led a 5-state effort to clean up and conduct a rivershed audit of the Chesapeake Bay, improving the water quality.
[Doug will also work to] significantly strengthen the standards for
adequate wastewater treatment plants and increase the Maryland Department of the Environment's inspection and compliance capabilities.
Source: 2022 Maryland Gubernatorial campaign website DougGansler.com
Dec 29, 2021
Peter Franchot:
Voted for over $1.4 billion in environmental protection
Peter has voted to invest more than $1.4 billion in environmental protection and land preservation -- including $708 million for Program Open Space, resulting in more than 100,000 acres permanently preserved and protected from development.
Peter has taken a leading role in reforming the way we invest in Program Open Space. He led the effort to create a Program Open Space acquisition scoring system that ensures land acquisitions are carefully vetted for ecological and recreational benefits.
Source: 2022 Maryland gubernatorial campaign website franchot.com
Feb 18, 2021
Peter Franchot:
Work with EPA to help clean up Chesapeake Bay
To reinvigorate the Bay restoration effort, Franchot will work with President Biden's Environmental Protection Agency and the signatory states to the
Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint to reach agreement to ramp up our efforts to achieve clean air, clean water, and lasting health for the Chesapeake Bay by the end of his first term.
Source: 2022 Maryland Gubernatorial campaign website TK.com
Jul 19, 2021
Wes Moore:
Will push back against Supreme Court ruling against EPA
Just hours after the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency lacks authority to broadly regulate greenhouse gas emissions, Moore stood on the banks of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, surrounded by environmental leaders,
promising to take swift and bold action on climate change if elected. The justices, Moore said, "decided to back those who are violating our environmental protections, and I'm here to say that the state of Maryland is going to push back."
Source: Maryland Matters on 2022 Maryland Gubernatorial race
Jun 30, 2022
Page last updated: Aug 01, 2023