Maryland is in a race against climate change. The Maryland Commission on Climate Change, which represents a wide range of academic institutions, energy providers, environmental nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and labor groups, has said that the state must pursue ambitious emissions reductions to align with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s pre-eminent climate science body. As the state’s largest source of carbon-free energy, Maryland must leverage the might of its nuclear energy industry to accelerate the energy transition, reduce harmful carbon emissions, and do its part to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. 

Nuclear is instrumental to preventing significant carbon emissions increases in Maryland. It avoids nearly 4 million tons of CO₂ annually, and 56 million tons of cumulative emissions - equivalent to removing about 800,000 cars from the road each year. It also prevents $2.5 billion in damages from carbon emissions that would result from increased fossil generation that would replace nuclear.