Demand Environmental Justice for Marylanders!
Prince George's County, Baltimore City, and Wicomico Counties are microcosms of the state, and, like many other counties, they face a unique combination of environmental challenges that threaten our residents' health, strain family budgets, and reflect decades of inequitable policy decisions.
Let’s send our legislators a message demanding they support critical policies/legislation to improve our environment, protect us from skyrocketing utility costs, expand transit access, advance environmental justice, and more.
Our Policy Priorities and Demands
We are urging legislators to take action and support legislation in the 2026 Maryland Legislative Session to protect environmental justice in Maryland! Our demands include:
Vote YES for the CHERISH Our Communities Act of 2026 to improve state-wide protections for communities like ours that face the most environmental pollution in Maryland.
Cumulative Harms to Environmental Restoration for Improving our Shared Health (CHERISH Our Communities Act) HB1268/SB 781: The CHERISH Act explicitly targets the problem of cumulative impacts—the combined health effects of multiple pollution sources in a single area. The MDE bill will give communities the right to a public participation process for renewals of minor source air pollution permits. The bill would not only block new polluters from setting up in these "overburdened" communities but also force existing ones to clean up. It also strengthens the public participation process, ensuring residents have a voice in permitting decisions that affect their health.
Vote Yes on the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act to require the Maryland Department of Transportation to balance spending on transportation projects with low or no associated emissions (sidewalks, crosswalks, bike paths, public mass transit) with projects that increase emissions.
Transportation and Climate Alignment Act of 2026 (TCA), HB 437/SB 59: The transportation sector is Maryland's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Major highways are often routed through or adjacent to low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, exposing residents to a constant stream of tailpipe pollution. By shifting investments toward public transit and other options, the TCA can help reduce this specific pollution burden, leading to cleaner air and better health outcomes in these communities.
Vote YES on the Bottle Bill
Maryland Beverage Container Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Program, "The Bottle Bill" HB 331/SB 342: Litter and illegal dumping are not evenly distributed; they are often concentrated in disadvantaged areas with fewer resources for cleanup. A 10- to 15-cent deposit creates a financial incentive for people to return containers, reducing litter at its source. As one activist noted, it gives people a reason to pick up after others, directly tackling the blight that disproportionately affects some communities.
Vote YES on the Climate Mandated Uses Bill to protect the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF)
Climate Mandated Uses (HB 1040/SB 622): The Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF) supports building and transportation electrification, building upon existing law that already mandates energy assistance, efficiency programs, and clean energy investments—resulting in a strong positive impact. Current law requires that 50% of RGGI proceeds go toward low-income energy assistance, 20% toward efficiency programs (with half of that targeted to low- and moderate-income households), and also supports minority-owned clean energy businesses, green jobs training, and local hiring requirements. HB1040 expands these efforts (electrification benefits for underserved communities) by explicitly including electrification as an eligible use of funds.
Vote YES on the Data Center Demand Response Act and support initiatives that protect us from future harm from data centers.
A. Support a moratorium on new data center construction until we better understand the impacts on resident utility costs, water resources, energy infrastructure, noise pollution, and fire safety information.
B. Support the Data Center Demand Response Act (HB 940/SB 596). This act focuses on preventing future harm. The rapid growth of data centers is creating a massive new demand for electricity. By prioritizing solar and other renewable energy sources, the act aims to meet energy needs without creating new pollution hotspots that would worsen environmental injustices.
C. Support the PJM Exit Study Bill to study whether to join other states to create a new Regional Transmission Organization or Fixed Resource Requirement (FRR). An FRR would allow utilities and load-serving entities to acquire their own power capacity for a set period (e.g., 5 years) rather than participate in the PJM capacity market. The entity must demonstrate that it can reliably meet its customers' electricity capacity needs, including peak demand, while adhering to federal reliability standards.