Environmental Stewardship, Water Quality, and Climate Resilience
Our waterways, forests, and public conservation lands are vital public resources that demand uncompromising protection. From the Monocacy River to the tributaries feeding the Chesapeake Bay, clean water sustains our agriculture, public health, and outdoor heritage. I demand the strict enforcement of clean water regulations and the Maryland Environmental Protection Act to stop agricultural runoff, industrial contamination, and hazardous PFAS forever chemicals) from entering our drinking water aquifers. Clean water is a basic human right, and we must penalize violators who compromise our natural watershed.
I will champion legislation requiring the Maryland Department of the Environment to assess cumulative environmental impacts during facility permitting. Working-class and marginalized communities have historically borne the disproportionate burden of heavy industrial pollution, toxic dumping, and poor air quality. We must eliminate environmental injustice through strict, binding standards that prevent any single community from carrying toxic pollution loads. Furthermore, accelerating climate change brings extreme rainfall and damaging flash floods to Frederick County towns. I will secure state capital funds for climate-resilient stormwater infrastructure, culvert modernization, stream bank restoration, and expanded urban tree canopies to absorb severe runoff and protect residential properties from flooding.
Maryland must also lead the country in clean energy generation through a worker-centered transition. I will accelerate our transition toward net-zero carbon emissions by expanding incentives for rooftop solar, commercial microgrids, and local battery storage installations. However, we must pursue a managed transition governed by the principle of no bans without plans. We cannot destabilize our electrical grid, risk regional blackouts, or eliminate good-paying industrial jobs before replacement generation comes online. I will partner with our labor unions, including electrical and utility workers, to ensure clean energy projects utilize Project Labor Agreements, prevailing wage standards, and local registered apprenticeships.
Additionally, I support polluter-pays legislation to ensure fossil fuel corporations, rather than local taxpayers, pay for climate remediation and infrastructure adaptation. Our public lands and natural resources belong to the people of Maryland. I will bring data-driven, science-based oversight to the General Assembly to protect our air, preserve our waterways, safeguard our farmland, and preserve our environment for future generations.