Letter to Editor: We Need Candidates Who Will Address Climate Problems

One only must watch the 2018 documentary High Tide in Dorchester (created by Tom Horton, Dave Harp, and Sandy Cannon-Brown) to realize that climate change is here in Dorchester County. Anyone can watch the 2018 film for free on PBS.  Here is the link:  MPT Presents | High Tide in Dorchester | PBS

This 55-minute documentary reveals how climate change is affecting Dorchester County, and discusses the severe flooding, saltwater intrusion, disappearing islands (such as Holland Island), and much more. Some Dorchester County residents have even had to raise the level of their houses because the flooding has been such a problem!

For more information, every year the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change creates a comprehensive report. Here is an IPCC Sixth Assessment fact sheet for 2022:  PowerPoint Presentation (ipcc.ch)  

In the sixth report which was published this year, there was a section about how we are going to have trouble growing crops due to saltwater intrusion onto farm fields.  This is well documented How could climate change impact food production? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)  

Clearly, climate change is detrimental to our Eastern Shore economy.  We depend on fishing, crabbing, tourism, farming, and more to make our economy stable. That is why our elected officials need to be knowledgeable about climate change and how it is affecting us.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  Both Delegates Chris Adams and Johnny Mautz (now a Senate candidate) have demonstrated that they do not understand this critical situation.

In candidate forums, both Mautz and Adams could not answer even basic questions about climate and how to mitigate its effects.  Even worse, both candidates have routinely voted against climate legislation that would provide for mitigation strategies.  In fact, Delegates Mautz and Adams even voted against two major climate bills, the Clean Energy Jobs Act and this past session, the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022, an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction plan.

In contrast to Adams and Mautz, Naomi Hyman (who is running against Mautz) and Susan Delean Botkin (running against Chris Adams) are well versed in climate problems.  Both candidates have been endorsed by long-standing environmental organizations such as the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club as well as the League of Conservation Voters.  These endorsements require approval at two levels by each organization.

Delegates Mautz and Adams appear to believe that we can preserve the Eastern Shore and our way of life by ignoring the challenges being presented now and in the future.  This is not a good plan.  Problems with climate change are already affecting our everyday activities, livelihoods, and property, and it will only get worse.  We must address this issue now if we want to preserve our home.  

Most importantly, we need our state delegates and senators to be willing to roll up their sleeves and develop solutions for climate change before we lose the small window of opportunity we have now to lessen its effects on our community.  Naomi Hyman and Susan Delean Botkin are willing to do just that.  It is our job to elect them so that they can.

Susan Olsen
Cambridge