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Montgomery County, Maryland, calls its plan to deal with climate change one of the most ambitious for a local government in the nation. The plan includes 86 specific steps aimed at accomplishing its goals. Among them are disincentivizing and ending natural gas utilities in new construction, expanding transit service and limiting the use of cars in downtown commercial districts. County Executive Marc Elrich said there’s no time to waste. “We’ve got to treat this kind of like we treated COVID, with the same level of seriousness and the same level of urgency,” Elrich said. Other goals include ending purchases of nonelectric buses by next year, installing new solar panels in public facilities and building partnerships among other Maryland counties to shape a statewide climate policy. Montgomery County Council President Tom Hucker said everyone has a role to play. “All of us have to do our part to change our county so it’s more efficient, it’s better adapted and it’s more resilient in the face of the climate crisis,” Hucker said. The county’s climate plan is available online.
