The Responding to Emergency Needs from Extreme Weather or RENEW Act —sponsored by Senator Hester, Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo, Delegate Boafo
SB149/HB128
Maryland is facing a structural deficit. The RENEW Act will bring in billions of new dollars to Maryland to help balance the budget and invest in climate solutions. These investments will pay dividends and ensure we stay on track to meet our climate mandates. Black and Brown communities, overburdened and underserved communities, elderly populations, the underinsured, and children are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts and extreme weather events- we cannot continue to leave these vulnerable communities behind without dedicating specific funding to our ambitious, forward-thinking climate change mitigation and adaptation programs in the state.
The RENEW Act is based on a policy that was first introduced in the U.S. Congress by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and has been introduced in four states, and has passed in Vermont. The premise is simple, Maryland taxpayers should not be the ones paying for the costs of extreme weather. That’s why the investments from the RENEW Act would be funded entirely by making the largest international fossil fuel companies pay a one-time fee for their historical emissions.
The costs of increasingly extreme weather are here today. The RENEW Act offers a solution that will help alleviate those damages while protecting Maryland consumers.
The Responding to Emergency Needs from Extreme Weather (RENEW) Act would require fossil fuel companies to provide dedicated funding to prepare for and recover from intensifying climate disasters.
The RENEW Act: Investing in Maryland
Why Does Maryland Need The RENEW Act?
Supporters of the RENEW Act:
Delegates Fraser-Hidalgo, Boafo, Watson, Acevero, Amprey, Bagnall, Charkoudian, Cullison, Davis, Ebersole, Edelson, Embry, Feldmark, Fennell, Foley, Grossman, Guyton, Guzzone, Harris, Henson, Hill, Ivey, Jackson, A. Johnson, S. Johnson, D. Jones, Kaufman, Kerr, Lehman, R. Lewis, J. Long, Love, Palakovich Carr, Pasteur, Pena-Melnyk, Pruski, Qi, Queen, Rosenberg, Ruff, Ruth, Simpson, Smith, Solomon, Stein, Stewart, Terrasa, Turner, Valderrama, Vogel, Wells, Wilkins, Wims, Woods, and Ziegler
Senators Hester, Brooks, Gile, Muse, Elfreth, Waldstreicher, Watson, M. Washington, Lewis Young, Kagan, Ellis, Benson, Kramer, Lam, Hettleman, and Rosapepe
Extreme weather events are becoming more common and more costly. Saint Mary’s County spends $950,000 a year to upgrade storm water management systems to handle heavier rain storms. Annapolis is spending $54 million to update its dock which has been chronically flooded by higher tides. Howard County is currently spending $228 million to bore an 18 foot diameter tunnel underneath Ellicott City to alleviate flooding. All across Maryland a warmer, wetter world is taking funds out of this year’s budget.
Which Path Do You Want Maryland To Go Down?
Big Oil Pays, We Prepare For A Changing Climate
Right now, Maryland taxpayers are footing the bill for climate change. The RENEW Act takes this burden off of taxpayers and puts it squarely on the shoulders of the largest, most polluting international fossil fuel companies.
Vermont and New York have already passed similar legislation. This legislation is currently under consideration in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, and Minnesota.
Upgrading Infrastructure to prevent flooding and wind storm impacts.
Rebuilding after disasters.
Installing air conditioning in public buildings, including schools.
Building community-based resiliency centers to offer shelter and other resources.
Hold Big Oil Accountable
Should Marylanders give up schools, libraries, safe streets, and reliable public infrastructure? Should taxpayers carry this global warming burden that they never wanted to begin with?
We don’t think so.
The RENEW Act
As storms and extreme weather become more severe, the damage to people and property is growing. Ellicott City alone had two “1,000 year storms” in the last two years, and Howard County is currently planning to spend $228 million to help protect the city’s residents from future flooding!
Protect Consumers, Not Polluters
Right now Maryland taxpayers are footing the bills for infrastructure investments made necessary by the climate crisis. The RENEW Act takes this burden off of taxpayers and puts it squarely on the shoulders of the largest international fossil fuel companies. These companies knew and lied about the climate crisis for nearly half a century. Their coordinated campaigns to block policies that would have reduced climate pollution caused the crisis we are in today, and they should be the ones to pay, not Marylanders.
FAQ
Q: Who pays for the RENEW Act?
A: The RENEW Act would require any company that has emitted more than a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions between 1994 and 2023 and has sufficient connection with Maryland to collectively pay a one time fee for the impacts of these emissions. The Maryland Department of the Environment, in consultation with the Comptroller and the Treasurer, will execute a study to determine the total assessment. The assessment would apply to roughly 40 companies. The funds collected will be held in the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Fund. These companies responsible for the one-time assessment are NOT Maryland’s utility companies- they are the largest, most polluting fossil fuel companies in the world.
Q: Will these costs cause oil and gas companies to go bankrupt?
A: In 2023, the three largest oil and gas companies in the US reported combined profits of $85.6 billion dollars. These companies are bringing in record profits as the climate crisis worsens.
Q: Will RENEW affect consumer prices?
A: The non-partisan Institute for Policy Integrity conducted an exhaustive analysis of this policy and found that companies affected will not pass this cost onto Marylanders. The companies who pay into the fund will not be able to pass the cost along to consumers because they will still have to compete with smaller producers who don’t have to pay into the fund. A gas station can buy oil from any producer. If 40 producers raise their prices, the gas station owner will buy from the hundreds of other producers who have not raised their prices.
Big Oil Knew About Climate Change
Take 30 seconds to demand that legislators stand with us to ensure that fossil fuel companies pay into a fund that will address the worst effects of climate change in Maryland.
Big Oil Companies’ own internal documents show that they were aware of the facts of climate change as early as the 1960s, but rather than take action, they’ve hidden the science and fought environmentalists every step of the way, catastrophically slowing any potential progress in addressing greenhouse gas emissions. Now we are feeling the effects of this reckless disregard for life on Earth and still they rake in the money. We say, “Enough!”
We know this doesn’t take the place of reducing our emissions and we won’t stop fighting for a clean energy future. But it will take every tool in the box to address this problem and, as always, it’s your support that makes it all happen.
ACT NOW! Money from polluters would be used to fix damage from natural disasters as well as funding infrastructure improvements to lessen impacts in the first place.
Resources
- Flyer: Where will your county find the funds to recover from a disaster like this?
- Fact Sheet: The Responding to Emergency Needs from Extreme Weather (RENEW) Act
- https://grist.org/accountability/a-superfund-for-climate-change-states-consider-a-new-way-to-make-big-oil-pay/
- Press: Renew Act would fine polluters in Maryland to the tune 9 Billion dollars
- Senate Bill Link
- House Bill Link
- Press: Poll shows wide support in Md. for making polluters pay for climate change
