ANNAPOLIS — When Wes Moore became Maryland’s governor in 2023, he pledged to lead the state into a climate-resilient future by lowering emissions and decarbonizing the economy — and leave no one behind in doing so.

But two and a half years into his term, the Moore administration has fallen short on its climate and environmental justice commitments and notably backflipped on progressive policies, a pair of midyear assessments from the nonprofit Maryland League of Conservation Voters concludes.

Released in mid-August, the 2025 Environmental Scorecard and the Governor’s Environmental Report Card offer a broad-based review of the Moore administration’s performance. The assessments describe lost momentum, budgetary contradictions and legislative backsliding that advocates say make it harder to achieve Maryland’s climate commitments.

In this year’s scorecard, the Maryland General Assembly received a D grade after none of the environmental justice bills the nonprofit supported made it through the legislative session — a first in recent memory. On climate and energy, the House and the Senate got B- and C respectively, because most of the bills the league prioritized stalled due to a lack of leadership support.

Moore did only marginally better, earning a C on climate and energy and a C+ on environmental justice in the Governor’s Environmental Report Card. The score reflects advocates’ frustration with Moore’s veto of key legislation, including the Energy Resource Adequacy and Planning Act, and his administration’s failure to advance long-promised reforms such as incorporating cumulative harm assessment in permitting processes to protect the state’s most overburdened communities.

The reports also emphasized that the administration made several controversial budget decisions that weakened Maryland’s ability to follow through on its own climate goal. These included diverting hundreds of millions of dollars from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund to cover a budgetary shortfall and a $25 million annual cut from Program Open Space, which provides funds to expand outdoor recreation, for four years.

While Moore made some notable symbolic and procedural advances since last year’s assessment, such as establishing a climate sub-Cabinet and requiring every state agency to draft climate implementation plans, these actions have not yet led to measurable progress, the assessments found.

“What is evident in the results of our analysis is that the actions needed — including the funding that is needed — to meet those goals are not being taken,” said Kim Coble, executive director of the league. “We felt that this was the year to point that out very distinctly.

“Not only are we not going to meet our climate greenhouse gas reduction goals, but even goals around environmental justice. The General Assembly and the governor have not taken the steps necessary to reduce those impacts.”

David Turner, Moore’s communications director, defended the administration’s record in a written statement, saying the state “saw its most challenging budget backdrop for a legislative session in years.” Despite those circumstances, he said, “Moore has continued to find ways to promote climate progress even in the midst of those challenges.”

Turner cited $100 million in climate funding in the fiscal year 2026 budget and noted that Moore “signed into law energy bills that will speed up the siting of more solar energy projects in Maryland, remove trash incineration from Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, and increase the use of battery storage for Maryland’s electric grid.”

He also highlighted a number of recent grants state agencies issued for electric school buses, decarbonizing community buildings and expanding EV charging infrastructure to underserved areas. Another $12 million in grant funding is expected next month, the statement said.

“These programs were all part of the governor’s $90 million climate down payment in the FY25 budget,” Turner said, adding that Maryland joined other states in July to strengthen the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon emissions cap.

Turner also said Moore “signed an Executive Order, ‘Valuing Opportunity, Inclusion, and Community Equity’ (VOICE), to advance environmental justice in Maryland.”

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