At energy forum, 10 Democrats vying for Sarbanes’ seat talk climate issues affecting vulnerable communities

Ten of the 22 Democratic candidates running in Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District met Tuesday to discuss race, economic opportunity and the environmental crises facing Maryland’s most vulnerable populations.

The seat represents several communities along Anne Arundel County’s eastern border with the Chesapeake Bay that are susceptible to rising sea levels, including Annapolis, Cape Saint Claire and Riviera Beach. Currently held by John Sarbanes, a Democrat, the seat also represents all of Howard County and parts of Carroll County.

Sarbanes, 61, is not running for reelection. Nine Republicans are also seeking to replace him.

Tuesday’s forum was part of the Caucus of African American Leaders’ 2024 Energy Summit. Hosted at The Westin BWI, one of the few Black-owned hotels in Anne Arundel County, the event served as a platform for candidates to share their perspectives on active and impending climate issues facing the state — issues that disproportionately affect people of color.

Several of the candidates agreed that the federal government has a responsibility to acknowledge decades of systemic efforts to devalue Black communities. They said practices such as redlining have enticed large polluting companies to establish waste sites in areas surrounding minority neighborhoods, exposing their residents to cancerous toxins and contaminating natural resources.

“It’s no coincidence that these sites are in Black, poor communities,” said Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer who responded to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “They’re not in white, rich areas. Why? Because … their constituents paid special interest groups to keep it away from them.”

“We don’t have the problems we are dealing with because of failed policy,” said Del. Terri Hill, who represents Howard County. “We have the problems that we’re dealing with because of policies that actually succeeded.”

Each question Tuesday was answered by only three participants. At several points, however, candidates referred to the responses of their competitors, elaborating or expanding on shared ideas.  

Acknowledging what Hill described as the “sins of our past,” for example, the candidates said there must also be collaboration between legislators, regulators and community members when attempting to find solutions. 

“We like to call ourselves a big tent party. We need a bigger table, frankly,” said Sen. Sarah Elfreth of Annapolis. “We need to make sure that people have seats at that table.”

Elfreth, who has served in the Maryland State House since 2019, said she has spent the last five years attempting to make equitable, community-based policies instead of reversing passed legislation.

One key distinction between Elfreth and the other Democratic candidates is also a source of contention.

Whereas many have distanced themselves from corporate money, Elfreth’s campaign has accepted funding from United Democracy Project, a pro-Israel political action committee. In a congested contest, those PAC dollars have isolated the Annapolis Democrat — at a debate between 16 candidates in mid-April, Elfreth was the only person who indicated she would accept PAC funding.

After that debate, the state senator, who has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, told The Capital the majority of her funding comes from Maryland.

Though no one specifically criticized Elfreth Tuesday, several participants, including  John Morse III of Annapolis and Kristin Anne Lyman Nabors of Severna Park, said the prevalence of PAC funding in government is a reason why many environmental issues exist.

“Somebody has to stand up to corporate money, to lobbyists, to chemical companies,” Lyman Nabors said. “When we have career politicians that get into D.C., get comfy in their office chair and sit there for 30 years, our whole lives go by and we think, ‘What just happened?’ Nothing.”

Many of the candidates identified climate issues as public health crises, and several offered specific actions they would support if elected or pointed to actions they have taken during their time in office.

Lyman Nabors, who works as a nurse, proposed developing solar-powered, in-home recycling systems that could convert plastics into glass.

Hill, a plastic surgeon, spoke of legislation she helped pass in Maryland that made it a requirement to notify downstream communities after a sewage spill, an event that can affect the food residents eat or the kinds of recreation they participate in.

Sen. Clarence Lam who, like Elfreth, has served in the Maryland State House since 2019, also pointed to legislative wins in Maryland, such as the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022, but said the state “still has a long way to go.” One step it can take, Lam said, is supporting both the clean energy industries and the clean jobs they produce.

“We can do both,” he said. “We have to do both.”

Hill and Malcolm Colombo, a Millersville candidate, also emphasized the need to ensure federal agencies and regulators are funded and powerful enough to enact change and hold all parties accountable to the law.

On the topic of renewable energy, a solution Maryland legislators are working toward in their mission to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045, many of the candidates highlighted the need to expand infrastructure for wind and solar power.

Don Quinn, a civil rights attorney from Millersville, also called for the development of nuclear energy, saying nuclear and renewable energy are “not opposed to one another.” Del. Mike Rogers, who represents Laurel, agreed that nuclear should be considered as an energy solution and Abigail Diehl, a produce business owner from Annapolis, said what is now nuclear waste can become a “treasure” if recycled.

Replacing fossil fuels is an opportunity to invest in public transportation, some of the candidates said.

Morse, an airport union organizer who has been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, said the state needs to develop a fleet of green buses to offer affordable travel throughout Maryland. A strong network identifying communities in need could also offset some of the daily congestion facing Baltimore since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, he said — an idea Dunn supported.

Colombo said community blueprints must be updated to ensure surrounding infrastructure supports public transportation options. It’s a goal that can only be met through regulation, he said, something the candidate described as being “pulled out of position under the guise of bipartisanship.”

“There’s a difference between compromising and losing,” he said.

The primary election is May 14, and the general election is Nov. 5.