The Climate Emergency Candidate

CLIMATE EMERGENCY ACTION NOW!

We are in a climate emergency. Not at the end of the century, nor the middle. Not in two years. We are in a climate emergency now.

It is time our representatives act like it.

It is time we act like it.

It is time that we adopt a climate emergency mindset and mobilize society, as was done during WWII, to tackle the climate crisis with the urgency that it deserves.

That’s why I’m running to represent you as a delegate in the Maryland state legislature in district 18.

IT IS TERRIBLE NOW, BUT WILL GET WORSE

At 1 degree Celsius of warming currently, the effects are deadly. A few recent examples:

• Pakistan: 1/3 of the Country Flooded

  • Over 1,000 dead, over 30 million affected, ⅓ of the country under water, and millions of acres of crops wiped out.

• California’s three-year drought continues with no relief in sight

• Nigeria: 272,000 acres of farmland completely destroyed by flooding

  • 1.3 million people have been displaced, and more than 200,000 homes have been destroyed

That's just a few examples of a list that goes on and on - drought, heat, floods, and super storms that destroy human habitats and crops.

And yet, we aren’t close to halting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In fact, they are increasing.

WHAT DOES GETTING WORSE ULTIMATELY MEAN?

The end of organized human life on the planet. In short:

• Crop failure

• Famines

• Floods

• Fire

• Extreme storms

• Mass displacement, migration, and conflict

• Mass death

HOW MUCH TIME DO WE HAVE?

It isn’t clear.

But I don't gamble with my food supply and a stable climate to sustain civilization.

As the ability of the planet to keep itself cool decreases as the ice caps continue to melt and the oceans and atmosphere continue to warm (all faster than expected if you follow the news), exponential, abrupt, and irreversible global heating could kick-in, much sooner than expected, destroying our crops, our water supply, and, well you can imagine the horrors that would come.

For example, cliimate scientist Michael Mann has said that our climate models aren’t predicting some of the more severe climate change induced weather events: “...weather systems become stalled as the jet stream slows down as a result of the warming of the planet. The models don’t take that into account, so they’re still underestimating the impact that we are having on these extreme weather events.”

THE SOLUTIONS

We must aggressively research how to restore a safe climate through direct global cooling and removing greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere and move to a 100% clean energy system as soon as possible.

Consider this approach to tackling the climate crisis the climate triad.

CLIMATE TRIAD

• Direct global cooling

  • Intensive research to see if it can be safely done

• Remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere

  • Otherwise known as drawing down GHG / CO2

• Convert to 100% clean energy economy

  • No more burning of fossil fuels

MARYLAND CAN LEAD THE WAY

We need the federal government and world governments/bodies to step up and tackle this problem, but Maryland can and should lead the way and also prepare for the mobilization that must happen on a worldwide level to eliminate fossil fuels, switch to 100% clean energy, and investigate how to cool a planet that is already dangerously overheated.

LEADING THE WAY

• The governor and state legislator should declare a climate emergency

  • And then act like it as an actual emergency (which means implementing the items listed below)

• The state legislature should declare an emergency legislative session to address the climate emergency

  • The standard session length, 3 months, is not long enough to address the emergency

WE HAVE THE SOLUTIONS FOR GETTING TO 100% CLEAN ENERGY, LET’S IMPLEMENT THEM.

• 100% Clean Energy as soon as possible

  • Reducing GHGs, as close to zero, as soon as possible

• No natural gas for all newly permitted construction, effective immediately. We must also decommission natural gas from existing structures and uses - as quickly as possible.

• Implement the International Green Construction Code for all new buildings

  • And ultimately for all building retrofits and renovations

• Solar required when feasible for all newly permitted structures in Maryland, effective immediately

• Deploy solar, wind and other clean energy solutions aggressively across the state

• Energy efficiency retrofits for all buildings in Maryland

• Transportation Overhaul to 100% Clean Energy - ASAP

  • Expand public transportation

  • Radical overhaul of pedestrian infrastructure to allow safe use of manually or battery powered personal vehicles (like eScooters). Radically expand and enhance safety of walking infrastructure.

  • Electric Vehicle Infrastructure - require/install car chargers in all new construction, at all places of business, at all condominium and rental communities. Ensure that high-speed charging stations are deployed throughout the state to enable friction-less long-trip travel in EVs

• Enact land-use policies so that agriculture, parks, and natural landscapes (and any land for that matter) are drawing down carbon in the atmosphere, cleaning our air, restoring our soil, and capturing/filtering water runoff.

  • A key is to restore the bay which, in its natural state, should draw down carbon from the atmosphere, provide a sustainable and massive food source for Marylanders and beyond, and become a powerful economic engine if it weren't for pollution from industrial poultry operations and polluted runoff from upstream populations.

• Compost pick-up for all Marylanders

  • Credits for those that compost at home

RESEARCH & MITIGATION TO ALLEVIATE THE CURRENT CLIMATE CATASTROPHE

• GHG Drawdown and Planetary Cooling: Fund and/or perform research on how to directly cool the planet and remove greenhouse gasses and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

• Mitigation: At 1 - 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming and more to come if we can't directly cool the planet and draw down GHG, we need to ensure that our infrastructure is resilient to handle the intensifying storms, floods, droughts, food and water supply issues, and heat waves. For example we should explore:

  • Burying power lines

  • Adapting water and waste management to be resilient to more intense rains/floods/weather

  • Adapt infrastructure to be more resilient in the face of intense heat

  • And much more...