Commentary

This is the year the Maryland General Assembly needs to act. For years advocates having been trying to stop third-party energy providers from ripping off low-income and elderly customers on fixed incomes. Since 2014, Maryland families have paid $750 million more for their deregulated electricity and natural gas supply. Maryland households, especially vulnerable households, have been losing money by being duped into switching from their regulated utility to a third-party energy supplier.

Most Marylanders would agree economic supports should be available to all who need them. Seeing so many of our neighbors in need of additional financial assistance to continue to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, state leaders smartly looked to maximize one of our most powerful anti-poverty tools, the Earned Income Tax Credit.

This week I received a moving note from a young friend of mine. In college, he realized he wanted to make a difference in this world by serving in government. His opinions leaned right, so the Republican Party became the vehicle for that service. He’s spent 10 years working his way up the Washington policy ladder. But now he is dismayed by what the Republican Party has become.

A few years ago, I asked the students in one of my Asian-American studies classes whether they had voted in the 2016 election. Most of the students in the class identified as Asian-American and for many that year was the first time they had reached voting age. If they had not voted, I asked the reason. Beyond the age requirement to cast a ballot in presidential elections, there are other reasons why the students in my classes might not be eligible to vote. Sometimes students are not eligible because they are visiting on international student visas or because they are permanent residents who came to the U.S. at a young age, and have not yet become citizens.

Since 2004, Maryland residents have invested millions of dollars in renewable energy sources as we strive to create new energy sector jobs and reduce our carbon emissions in the face of the climate crisis. For 17 years, the Renewable Portfolio Standard has promised to invest ratepayers’ money into new and expanding renewable energy, but dirty energy sources hold it back from meeting that goal. As the state seeks to spur recovery from COVID-19 and spend public money wisely, it is time to address the polluting, carbon-intensive energy sources that remain a big chunk of our Renewable Portfolio Standard.

The arctic blast in Texas and resulting power grid failures is unfortunately only the most recent of many severe weather events. Across Maryland, a recent NOAA study shows the frequency of flooding is dramatically increasing in vulnerable areas like Cambridge, Tolchester Beach, Baltimore City, Annapolis, and Solomons Island. For example, projections for Baltimore City show 5-9 days of flooding will occur in 2020, 15-25 days in 2030, and 50-155 days in 2050. Flash floods, like those experienced in Ellicott City, result in millions of dollars of damage and lost lives.