Next Gen Climate Training Enhanced by Maryland’s Climate Solutions Now Act

The Maryland legislature took a significant step forward for climate this year by passing the landmark Climate Solutions Now Act (CSNA) (S.B.528) in April. This legislative work builds on Maryland’s progress in addressing climate at the state level since 2007 with the creation of the Maryland Climate Change Commission and the state’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The CSNA provides a comprehensive response to climate change via a whole-of-government approach to lowering greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and enhancing the state’s ongoing adaptation efforts, with a focus on under-resourced communities.

The CSNA sets the nation’s leading interim GHG emissions reduction goal of a 60% reduction below 2006 emissions by 2031, with a requirement to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. In the building sector, it establishes a Building Energy Performance Standard that requires large buildings to be net-zero by 2040. For the transportation sector, it requires 100% of the state passenger fleet to be zero-emissions by 2031 as well as pilots an electric school bus program that includes vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. V2G technology is smart-charging technology that allows vehicle batteries to supply power back to the power grid, essentially allowing electric vehicles to serve as backup storage cells for the electrical grid to meet changing demand for energy. With regard to energy distribution, the CSNA also incorporates long-term, ongoing electric distribution planning to facilitate decarbonization. 

To begin to address climate equity and justice issues, the CSNA creates a comprehensive definition of “overburdened” and “underserved” communities that should receive targeted benefits from climate-related funding, mitigation, and adaptation efforts. The Act also creates the Climate Catalytic Fund to leverage private investments, with at least 40% being directed to qualified projects in low- and moderate-income households.

One program addressing the equity issue in Maryland is the Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps (the Corps) managed by the Chesapeake Bay Trust (Trust). The Corps increases access and opportunities to young adults (18 to 25 years old) to learn climate-related workforce skills and build green careers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. With the recently passed CSNA, the program can continue to support and train the next generation of stewards in professions that restore and protect our environment, ensure healthy places for Marylanders to live, and address climate change in underserved communities. In the program, young adults engage in one-year service-learning placements with nonprofit or government agencies throughout the Chesapeake Bay. Corps Members receive hands-on environmental and leadership experience, mentorship, training, and access to a support network of other young environmentalists and more than 350 Corps alumni. Through its variety of learning opportunities, the Corps supports the growth and professional advancement of young adults entering the environmental field while simultaneously protecting and restoring the health of our environment and communities. 

The CSNA allows the Corps to provide more young adults with the opportunity to work on clean and renewable technologies, climate adaptation, and mitigating health impacts of climate change in underserved communities disproportionately affected by climate change. Through the program, Corps Members receive training in energy efficiency, environmental protection, governmental and regulatory administration, and renewable energy generation sectors. Example projects include expanding urban tree canopy to reduce urban heat island effects; improving access to clean, reliable transportation modes such as expansion of bike trails and pedestrian walkways; implementation of clean energy projects; implementation of coastal green infrastructure restoration projects to reduce vulnerability of coastal communities to storms, flooding, and sea level rise; and installing renewable energy systems at low-income households as well as schools, libraries, and other public buildings. Passage of the CSNA allows the Corps program to reach more young adults, increase the stipend for Corps Members, and expand its scope to cover a wider range of climate topics. These projects will result in long-term reductions to greenhouse gas emissions and improvements to public health and the environment. In addition, the Trust will expand the climate elements in the Corps Member training series.

Established in 2010, the inaugural class included 16 placements across Maryland. Since then, the Corps has grown to 30 to 35 placements and is expected to support approximately 55 placements starting in 2023. Emily Stransky, who now manages the Corps program, served as a Corps Member in 2012-2013 at Eden Mill Nature Center in Harford County, Maryland. She feels she has come full circle in managing a program that provided her with a meaningful opportunity to learn and grow professionally and looks forward to having a positive impact on the Corps Members going forward. At the organizational level, the program is managed through the Chesapeake Bay Trust and is supported in partnership with the State of Maryland, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Park Service, and BGE, an Exelon Company.

The Corps Member application process will open in December 2022 and close on March 9, 2023. Corps Member candidates must be 18 to 25 years old and interested in a full-time service term. A college degree is not required. Corps Members can choose from projects involving climate change, environmental restoration, energy conservation, agriculture, forestry, community engagement, environmental education, and more. The next Corps Member cohort begins in August 2023.

The Trust is also seeking new host organizations with a climate-focused mission. Nonprofit organizations and government agencies throughout Maryland are eligible, with some exceptions for designated partners of the National Park Service located outside of Maryland. The application deadline for host sites is December 8, 2022 at 4PM Eastern time. 

For more information:

General Corps information and background: https://cbtrust.org/chesapeake-climate-corps/

Host site application: https://cbtrust.org/chesapeake-climate-corps/apply/