The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-01)

FRIDAY, APRIL 1 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE B5

reach that milestone as soon as 2045, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, an environmental policy think tank. (California and Virginia have also set that goal.) Twenty-two states and the Dis- trict h ave set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, though the speed and magnitude of those goals vary greatly and make them difficult to compare. Of the 11 states pegging reduc- tions to emissions levels in 2005 or 2006, Maryland’s new goal seeks the highest percentage re- duction by 2031. Maryland’s proposed carbon neutrality goal beats President Biden’s goal to make the federal government carbon neutral by 2050. Environmental and public health groups praised passage of the bill as critical to improving local air quality and modeling policies that could be adopted at a national scale. The proposal would also research and identify environmental inequality, docu- menting how many communities of color have more polluted air or fewer trees because of decades of what the bill calls a lack of environmental justice. Barve said Maryland already feels the squeeze of climate change and cannot wait to act. “We’re losing farmland to rising sea level and we’re losing our ski lodges to reduced snow,” Barve said. “We’re more and more polluting our lungs by having to inhale all this crap. Here’s the thing: We cannot con- tinue to treat the atmosphere of the Earth like the biggest run- ning sewer on the planet, which is what we’re doing right now.”

erators or highways that have poor air quality. Climate scientists say the in- creasing atmospheric concentra- tion of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, have fueled rising global temper- atures. The law passed both chambers on a party-line vote, with some Republicans objecting to drastic measures and others noting that Maryland is making sacrifices unlikely to move the needle on global climate change. “There was no measurable impact on the environment by this bill,” Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Ar- undel) said. “It would not save the planet. It wouldn’t stop the floods, the fires, in Maryland. Not one single one.” Simonaire objected specifical- ly to the plan to make large, privately owned buildings of 35,000 square feet or larger reduce emissions and become carbon neutral by 2040 — or face fines and other penalties from the state. “It mandates billions of retro- fits. It still says it’s the intent of the General Assembly to basical- ly ban gas in new construction and existing buildings, that going forward that’s our intention,” he said. “We should be putting this energy at the national level, and more so at the global level, so that we can have real impact, so that we can really save the planet and not focus on being a role model. ... It’s a good thing to be a role model, but at what ex- pense?” Of the 11 states with goals to become carbon neutral, Mary- land would become the third to

still seeks to transition off natural gas, which emits more carbon than renewable sources of elec- tricity. The bill requires state agencies to determine how much capacity exists in the electric grid and write recommendations to make sure there’s enough mov- ing forward. It’s one of several pieces that spells out the policy the state wants to tackle next, including pouring resources into environmental justice initiatives and helping communities near incin-

Pinsky and Barve hoped to make Maryland the first state in the country to bar using natural gas to heat and cool newly con- structed buildings. Several liber- al-leaning cities have passed sim- ilar electrification laws, prompt- ing state lawmakers in more than a dozen Republican-leaning states to preemptively prohibit municipal bans on natural gas heating over concerns it would reduce consumer choice. Maryland’s bill, called the Cli- mate Solutions Now Act of 2022,

without explaining how it would do that. “While we share the goal of protecting our environment and combating climate change — and have made historic progress — putting the costs on Maryland- ers is no solution.” Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci did not respond to a re- quest for comment, but he tweet- ed a link to a U.S. News & World Report article ranking Maryland as the nation’s fourth-greenest state, based on state policy and other factors.

and environmentally sensitive
Chesapeake Bay, as the nation’s
fourth-most-vulnerable to sea-
level rise. Oceans are expected to
rise a foot by 2050, according to a
February report from the Nation-
al Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration.
Leading Democrats say the
impact of inaction is too great,
even though a small state cannot
stop rising waters alone.
“Internationally, everyone’s
waiting for someone else to do
something,” said Sen. Paul G.
Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), the
Senate’s chief architect on the
bill. “People are on the sidelines
watching history rather than at-
tempting to shape history. ...
Clearly we can’t get it through
Congress. And that’s a mess. So I
think it calls on the states to take
action.”
Even though Democrats who
control the General Assembly
disagree about whether the plan
goes far enough, they quickly
advanced the bill this week to
present it to Hogan in time to
override a potential veto before
they’re forced to adjourn April 11.
Last year’s climate change bill
died in the final hours of the
session in a standoff between
Barve and Pinsky over its scope.
Hogan rarely weighs in on
legislation before it reaches his
desk. But in March, he issued a
public statement calling the cli-
mate bill a “reckless and contro-
versial energy tax.”
“With inflation surging and
energy prices at record highs,
this is the absolute worst possi-
ble time for policies that raise
costs for consumers,” he said,

CLIMATE FROM B1

Md. lawmakers approve climate plan that Hogan criticized

BRIAN WITTE/ASSOCIATED PRESS Del. Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery), a key figure in the development of Maryland’s plan to address warming, said the state already feels the squeeze of climate change and cannot wait to act.

BY SCOTT DANCE

The first of a trio of deluges to
hit Ellicott City since 2011 was
enough to make Vince Saulsbury
buy flood insurance for his 122-
year-old rowhouse atop Main
Street.
So when devastating surges of
storm water roared down the old
mill town’s steep hillsides in 2016
and 2018, the insurance paid
Saulsbury more than $30,000. He
used the money to clean out
muck, replace insulation, water
heaters and furnaces, and line the
dirt floor of his basement with
concrete. He has done whatever
he can, such as storing boxes and
tools high on shelves, to cut his
losses the next time the Tiber
Branch overflows in his backyard.
“I lost tons of stuff over three
floods,” he said. “I’ve learned to
just not put anything down
there.”
But he knows even his best
efforts won’t stop the next flood.
That predicament highlights a
problem across Maryland as cli-
mate change makes coastal wa-
ters rise and storms intensify.
High waters have caused re-
peated damage to more than
1,300 flood-insured homes, busi-
nesses and government buildings
in the state in recent decades,
according to data obtained by the
Baltimore Sun. But only about 1 in
8 has been improved in ways
likely to prevent significant fu-
ture flood losses — and those are
costs that taxpayers eventually
could shoulder.
Preparing more of those homes
and buildings to withstand floods
is necessary to protect lives and
properties from disasters, with as
much as $19 billion worth of flood
damage expected in Maryland by

It is difficult for a number of
reasons, starting with that high
cost.
The locations of the properties
are often unclear. The Federal
Emergency Management Agency,
citing privacy concerns, holds in-
formation on federally backed
flood insurance claims so tightly
that even local government offi-
cials often cannot get the ad -
dresses.
The full toll of floods is hard to
gauge because many flood-prone
properties don’t carry flood insur-
ance. That means they don’t file
claims that can be tracked. One
estimate suggests the number of
repetitively flooded properties —
those that have received multiple
payments of $1,000 or more un-
der a federal flood insurance pro-
gram — is three times higher than
FEMA data reflects.
The challenge is so expansive
and daunting that there is no
guiding plan or budget to help
residents avoid enduring flood

losses, though a recent report card on climate change resiliency gave Maryland failing grades for its handling of repetitively flooded properties. A new state loan program is on the way that aims to draw more federal investment for resilient infrastructure, but other policies are still being de- veloped and considered. The slow action frustrates residents like Saulsbury. He wishes more could be done to rein in development and reduce the run- off that comes like an avalanche down Ellicott City’s rocky slopes, sending the Tiber and Hudson branches of the Patapsco River overflowing onto Main Street. Meanwhile, his National Flood Insurance Program premium has grown from $680 a year to more than $2,500, although that doesn’t begin to cover what he has collected in claims from the federal insurer. “It’s still a net loss for them,” he said. “It’s still a net loss for every- body.” For most residents whose homes face any amount of flood risk, the federal flood insurance program is the only way to protect against losses when disaster hits. It was established within FEMA in 1968 as a backstop insurer after many private companies dropped flood zone coverage because it was too costly. But because it’s a government program, rather than a business, even the most flood-prone properties can file claims again and again. Historically, repetitively flooded properties have account- ed for 1 percent of flood insurance policies, while estimates of their share of the claims paid range from about a fifth to a third. As climate change makes floods more frequent and storms more potent, the insurance program’s proponents and critics agree it’s broken. Its losses have

mounted so much that in 2017, after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, Congress had to step in to cover $16 billion of its debt. Yet FEMA still owed the U.S. treasury more than $20 billion in flood insurance claims as of March 2020. In Maryland, the situation is as unsustainable as anywhere. As of November 2020, there were 1,342 repetitively flooded properties. Meanwhile, only 173 — about 13 percent — have made improve- ments to prevent losses. Such im- provements often include raising a building several feet off the ground, installing flood vents in foundations, or elevating water heaters, furnaces and air condi- tioning units. Another prevention against re- peated losses is using government money to buy flood-prone properties and tear them down. But that’s a strategy that, in even the most flood-weary parts of Mary- land, many consider too extreme. Maryland leaders acknowl- edge more action is needed. They said they hope the recent Coastal Adaptation Report Card, which the University of Maryland Cen- ter for Environmental Science released this year, will help spur it. The report card gave the state a B-minus overall for its planning and preparations around coastal flooding. But the state received failing grades for two categories measuring risks to repetitively flooded properties and to critical facilities, including police and fire stations and hospitals. “I hope it’ll mean even greater investments in smart coastal management and investing in infrastructure that... is not going to be underwater imminently,” state Environment Secretary Ben H. Grumbles said when the evalu- ation was released. More of those investments could come as FEMA and the state

seek to better communicate flood risk and the importance of flood insurance to property owners in places that previously might not have been considered at risk. To improve the federal flood insurance program’s finances, new rates are set to take effect this month that better reflect current risk. That means about 3 percent of the 65,000 policyholders in Maryland will pay at least $120 more per year in premiums, according to FEMA. Instead of sim- ply basing premiums on a struc- ture’s location in a flood zone, FEMA will begin taking into account variables including the type of foundation and the elevation of its lowest level. Those changes g ive property owners an incentive to take a more proactive approach, poten- tially reducing their insurance bills by raising their homes or flood-proofing their basements. Maryland, meanwhile, soon could afford to do more large projects to prevent floods. The state was the first in the country to establish a loan program tied to a new $500 million federal initiative on climate change resiliency. The General Assembly ap- proved the Resilient Maryland Revolving Loan Fund last year with $25 million for such projects. That amount is designed to help secure investment from the federal initiative, created through the Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongoing Risk Mitigation Act, or Storm Act. Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D- Howard), whose district includes Ellicott City, said she hopes there is more beyond that. Projects funded through the Resilient Maryland fund and Storm Act could compete for a separate federal infrastructure program — through which Baltimore soon could receive $32 million to prevent flooding. That would mean

the state’s initial $25 million investment could translate into hundreds of millions of dollars more in federally funded resiliency work. Hester also is sponsoring legislation in the current General As- sembly session to establish a state chief resilience officer. A new of-

fice within the Maryland Depart- ment of Emergency Management would oversee disparate efforts to prepare for climate change. “We need to take a whole-state approach to dealing with these problems so the next flood’s not as bad as the last,” Hester said. —Baltimore Sun

MARYLAND

High waters, high costs: Flood-prone areas are ill-prepared for next storm

U-Md. report card gives the state failing grades on assessing risks

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST B usiness owners and others hold a meeting in July 2018 a long Ellicott City’s Main Street, where a majority of the city’s buildings remained boarded up after the second record flood in two years.

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The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-01)

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