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Seven Marylanders Named to Study America’s Climate Choices
BALTIMORE, MD (January 26, 2009) The State of Maryland continues to play a leading role in finding solutions to climate change, with seven Maryland residents named to participate in a major study on climate change by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. The Congressionally mandated study, America’s Climate Choices, will investigate the serious, sweeping issues relating to global climate change and make recommendations regarding strategies that must be adopted in response.Maryland representatives will play key roles in the development of these recommendations, with the following experts participating in several issue-specific panels:
“I am pleased to have so many Maryland experts selected to serve on these prestigious panels,” said Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. “Their findings and recommendations will help inform our efforts in Maryland to limit climate change and its consequences, and take advantage of the economic opportunities in reducing our global warming pollution. Similarly, I hope the work of our own Commission on Climate Change will provide insights and ideas for the nation.”
- Dr. Donald Boesch of Annapolis, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and Robert Fri of Bethesda, formerly director of the National Museum of Natural History, will serve on the overall coordinating committee that will write the final report based on the work of four separate panels.
- Dr. Georges Benjamin of Gaithersburg, executive director of the American Public Health Association and formerly Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, has been appointed to the panel on adapting to the impacts of climate change.
- Dr. Antonio Busclacchi, Jr., of Burtonsville, a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park; Robert Corell of Grasonville, director for global change of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; and Dr. Richard Moss of Bethesda, vice president of the World Wildlife Fund, will serve on the panel on advancing the science of climate change.
- Shari T. Wilson of Baltimore, Secretary of Maryland Department of the Environment, has been tapped for the panel on informing effective decisions and actions related to climate change.
Dr. Donald Boesch said: “This two-year study comes at time when the new Obama Administration and Congress will be grappling with changing U.S. policies, regulations, and investments related to climate change. The effects of climate change are upon us, and the time to act is now.”
Maryland Department of Environment Secretary Shari T. Wilson said, “I am honored to serve on a panel whose charge is to determine the best ways we can inform decision makers about climate change and to help these decision makers plan for and enact solutions and responses to this great challenge. Developing such a framework will ensure that our actions and decisions are using the best available technology.”
In August, the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, chaired by MDE Secretary Wilson, released its Climate Action Plan detailing what effects global warming will have on the State, recommending actions to protect Maryland’s property and people, and outlining forty-two actions to help the State greatly reduce its global warming pollution. Under the O’Malley/Brown Administration, Maryland has also begun to reduce pollution and address climate change through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Clean Cars Act, and EMPOWER Maryland programs as well as by increasing Renewable Portfolio Standards to increase our use of clean energy.
Read more about the report at: www.americasclimatechoices.org
January 26, 2009 Contact: Kara Turner
410-260-8021 office
katurner@dnr.state.md.usIntroduced by Governor Martin O’Malley in October 2008, Maryland’s Smart, Green & Growing initiative was created to strengthen the state’s leadership role in fostering smarter, more sustainable growth and inspire action among all Marylanders to achieve a more sustainable future. The Initiative brings together state agencies, local governments, businesses and citizens to create more livable communities, improve transportation options, reduce the state’s carbon footprint, support resource based industry, invest in green technologies, preserve valuable resource lands and restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay.