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Gov. Wes Moore (D) will announce Friday that he is allocating nearly $500,000 to study the costs of climate change in the state 鈥� just months after he cited cost concerns as he vetoed a bill to spend almost the same amount of money for聽the same study.
Friday鈥檚 expected announcement comes just days before a special legislative session Tuesday, when lawmakers聽are expected to consider overriding Moore鈥檚 veto of the RENEW Act 鈥� for Responding to Emergency Needs From Extreme Weather 鈥� which included the climate study.
鈥淲hile the federal government has spent the past year rolling back climate protections and driving up energy costs, Maryland is taking a responsible step toward understanding the true price tag of climate damage,鈥� Moore wrote in a news release Friday.
was part of a larger effort by climate activists in Maryland and across the country to eventually require large fossil fuel companies to compensate states for the effects of climate change, including flooding and extreme heat.
The study Moore is funding, which will be administered by the comptroller鈥檚 office, will also evaluate any potential impact to taxpayers if fossil fuel companies are compelled to make compensatory payments to the state. A final report is due by Dec. 1, 2026 鈥� the same deadline as in the vetoed legislation.
It is not clear whether legislators will still pursue an override of the , bill sponsor David Fraser-Hidalgo (D-Montgomery) said.
鈥淎t the end of the day, I鈥檓 just excited to get going on the study,鈥� Fraser-Hidalgo said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been working on a version of this bill for five, going on six, years so I鈥檓 just excited to move the ball forward.鈥�
Maryland isn鈥檛 alone in considering so-called 鈥淢ake Polluters Pay,鈥� or 鈥渃limate Superfund鈥� legislation. New York and Vermont have already passed legislation that will ultimately charge fossil fuel firms for a portion of climate damages. In New York, the tab is $75 billion over the next 25 years. Earlier this year, the Trump administration sued both states, challenging the laws, and those cases are ongoing.
In May, Moore shocked lawmakers when he , including one evaluating slavery reparations for African American Marylanders and another looking into the potential impacts of large-scale data centers in the state.
鈥淥ur current budget situation requires us to reconsider bills that create expensive and labor intensive studies,鈥� Moore wrote in a veto letter about the climate study. 鈥淲hile such bills can be a first step to addressing complex issues and allow the signaling of support for an issue, the practice has become so commonplace that it is now a significant financial and staff burden on the state government.鈥�
Since May, when the bill was vetoed, the administration has been able to secure a $30,000 grant from the Rockefeller Family Fund for the climate study. The remaining $470,000 will come from the state鈥檚 Strategic Energy Investment Fund over this fiscal year and the next, according to the governor鈥檚 office. The vetoed bill would have pulled all $500,000 from the SEIF in fiscal 2026.
鈥淕overnor Moore has maintained that Maryland doesn鈥檛 have to choose between a green economy and a growing economy,鈥� said Moore spokesperson Rhyan Lake. 鈥淏y leveraging both philanthropic funding and existing state funding sources over two fiscal years to fully fund this study at no expense to Maryland taxpayers, Governor Moore is continuing to take action on climate and build a more sustainable Maryland.鈥�
When Moore vetoed the RENEW bill, climate advocates were shocked, noting that the administration had not previously voiced opposition to the bill. Mike Tidwell, founder of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, called the move 鈥渦nforgivable.鈥�
But it鈥檚 possible that Moore鈥檚 about-face will help him to make amends, as Annapolis gears up for its next full legislative session on Jan. 14.
鈥淢aryland suffered devastating losses this summer due to climate change. From extreme flooding to heat deaths, the impacts of climate change are costing Marylanders now,鈥� said Brittany Baker, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund. 鈥淲e appreciate Governor Moore鈥檚 commitment to moving the climate costs study forward.鈥�
Rockefeller Family Fund Director Lee Wasserman said the charity 鈥� which focuses on climate change, democracy and economic justice for women 鈥� supported the RENEW bill and others like it around the country, and was stunned by Moore鈥檚 veto.
鈥淭hese costs are going to be landing on states including Maryland whether they figure out what they look like ahead of time or not, so it鈥檚 hard for me to imagine how achieving a greater understanding of the parameters of those costs could possibly be seen as negative,鈥� Wasserman said. 鈥淭o the contrary, it seems like good governance 101.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 less surprised that the governor has decided to backtrack, appropriately so, and give the state the opportunity to really practice good governance,鈥� Wasserman said.
Prior studies have endeavored to tabulate bits and pieces of Maryland鈥檚 costs from climate change.
In 2024, the Maryland Department of the Environment estimated that it would take to meet the state鈥檚 emissions reduction goals and transition to 100% clean energy. Amid historic budget shortfalls, the state has not allocated that amount to the effort, even though some programs are underway. Under state law, Maryland must reduce the state鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions 60% from 2006 levels, by 2031.
An April from the comptroller鈥檚 office indicated that Maryland experienced 85 natural disasters between 1980 and 2024, at a cost to the state of $10 billion to $20 billion.
鈥淎lthough extreme weather events have always occurred, scientists can now quantify how much more intense and frequent they have become due to climate change,鈥� read the report. 鈥淢aryland can use this emerging science to assess the additional expenditures the state is spending due to anthropogenic climate change.鈥�
That report also cited research from the聽, which supports climate Superfund bills, that said trying to build a seawall to protect Maryland鈥檚 coastlines from rising seas would cost the state $27.4 billion by 2040.
The RENEW study will be done under a memorandum of understanding between the Maryland Energy Administration and the comptroller鈥檚 office, the governor鈥檚 news release said. Comptroller Brooke Lierman said the report 鈥渨ill build a roadmap for financial resilience in Maryland amid the challenges of climate change.鈥�
Lawmakers raided the SEIF fund for other uses during this year鈥檚 legislative session. The fund 鈥� which is supposed to be used on energy projects such as solar panels, EV chargers and energy efficiency upgrades for low-income households 鈥� was used to fund a roughly $80 for all of the state鈥檚 residential customers, and to help correct a massive state budget deficit.
The SEIF is funded in part by 鈥渁lternative compliance payments鈥� from electricity suppliers who do not meet the state鈥檚 renewable energy mandates. It had ballooned in recent years because聽it was cheaper for suppliers to make the alternative compliance payments than to buy the required renewable energy credits from clean energy generators.
SEIF revenues went from $52,240 in alternative compliance payments in fiscal 2021 to $318 million by fiscal 2024, according to the fund鈥檚 most recent .
鈥� This story was updated on Friday, Dec. 12, to correct the fiscal years for which state SEIF funds will be used for the study. The money will come from fiscal 2026 and 2027.
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