Commentary

When people discuss why climate bills will be good for Maryland, you often hear about how these bills will help reduce energy consumption, better prepare us for sea-level rise and attract federal investments in a clean energy future. For one of the states most vulnerable to climate impacts, these are crucial benefits. But these are only part of the positive impacts that will be realized if we support climate solutions. As a nurse midwife who practiced for six years in Prince George’s County before becoming the executive director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, I’m on board because of the health benefits.

For seven years I’ve served as mayor of Salisbury — my hometown — a fast-growing, young and diverse city of 35,000 people, anchoring the Salisbury Metropolitan Area of 428,000 on the Delmarva Peninsula. In May 2021, I returned from a year-long deployment to East Africa. The call from Uncle Sam meant that I had to leave my city at a most critical time. I came home to numerous challenges. Some of them I anticipated: economic recovery, public health protection, racial justice and criminal justice reform.

Put yourself in the shoes of William Fields. You use a wheelchair. You rely on home care workers to assist you into and out of your wheelchair and to help you bathe, dress and cook. These workers allow you to live in your home; their work gives you the freedom to stay in your community, near your neighbors and places you know. But when the worker scheduled to provide you with care this week gets sick and calls out, and the home care agency can’t find a replacement, what can you do?

In early 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, I met a woman who said she practiced “aggressive friendship.” It takes a lot of her time, but she’s the person who regularly invites friends over to her house, who organizes events and outings with her friends. What a fantastic way to live. I thought of her while reading Robin Dunbar’s recent book, “Friends.” If the author’s name means something to you, it’s probably because of Mr. Dunbar’s number.

We’re glad Gov. Larry Hogan saw reason and requested the release of funds critical to the crime fight in Baltimore City, announcing plans Thursday to spend $6.5 million to bolster Baltimore’s Warrant Apprehension Task Force and to have Maryland State Police take over traffic patrols on Interstate-83, among other initiatives. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott met with the governor last month and specifically asked for help with warrants, facing a backlog of thousands. And city officials for years have been asking for assistance on I-83, where frequent crashes on the poorly designed road regularly tie up a couple of patrol cars for hours at a time.

In response to the rapid rise in prices at the pump, Gov. Larry Hogan and the leaders of the General Assembly quickly got together to adopt a 30-day “emergency” suspension of the state’s 37 cents per gallon gas tax. Since the suspension became effective on March 18, prices at the pump have dropped by roughly the amount of the tax reduction. All well and good. I’ll cheer along with Maryland’s other drivers at the tax holiday. But don’t mistake the temporary gas tax suspension for the broader, deeper permanent tax relief Marylanders deserve, especially now with the state projecting a huge near-term budget surplus.

In many of the three dozen states holding gubernatorial elections this year, Republican primaries have become a battleground between extremists backed by former president Donald Trump and more traditional candidates. One of them, Maryland, poses an especially stark choice given its overwhelming antipathy toward Mr. Trump, who lost the state in 2020 by a 2-to-1 margin. If the Free State’s GOP opts for the Trumpist candidate in the July 19 gubernatorial primary, it only increases its prospects of getting trounced in November’s general election. If it backs a traditionalist, it has a fair chance of winning.