Victory: Maryland passes clean energy jobs legislation

Victory! Both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly recently passed – by veto-proof margins – a landmark clean energy and jobs bill that will put the state on a path to 100% renewable energy by 2040.

More than 1,000 CREDO activists signed a petition and helped make this victory possible by joining a coalition effort led by state and local organizations in Maryland.

Once enacted, the Clean Energy Jobs Act will:

• Require Maryland to ensure that 50% of its electricity is sourced from renewable energy by 2030, extending the state’s current mandate of 25 percent by 2020.
• Fund small, minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses in clean energy.
• Provide millions of dollars to workforce development programs, creating thousands of jobs and making the state a national leader in renewable energy.
• Cut carbon emissions equivalent to taking 1.7 million cars off the road each year.
• Generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual economic benefits to the state.

As our allies at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network put it, this victory “was made possible by an immense grassroots push in the final weeks of session.” Many thanks to our CREDO members in Maryland and our environmental allies on the ground who are fighting climate change in Maryland.