Maryland climate-aligned transportation bill gains momentum in Senate

Green advocates in Maryland are pushing for a third straight session to get legislation across the finish line that would require the state to align its transportation priorities with its climate goals. 

A coalition of nearly 50 environmental, transit and bike organizations is urging lawmakers to approve the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act, which the House passed in 2024, 2025 and again this year. 

It has previously stalled in the Senate, but there is fresh hope among the bill’s supporters that this is the year. Time is short, as the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on April 13. 

“This is definitely the most momentum the bill has had behind it in the Senate,” Del. Mark Edelson, a Democrat who is the prime sponsor of the House bill, told Pluribus News. 

“We just need to keep pushing,” he added. 

Similar laws are in place in Colorado and Minnesota. Bills have also been introduced in recent years in Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts and New York. 

The Maryland bill targets future major highway projects that are designed to expand capacity and throughput. 

As currently written, the bill would require Maryland’s Department of Transportation to include expanded transit or other transportation options as part of any big road expansion project. Those alternatives would have to be robust enough to offset the road project’s anticipated increase in greenhouse gas emissions.