Join Our Make Polluters Pay - Maryland Tour
Help Us Make Polluters Pay in MD: Fall 2026
Extreme weather, caused by climate change, is impacting the lives, pocketbooks, and health of our communities.
This summer, Maryland has been hit with extreme heat, causing over 1,627 people to go to the Emergency Room and a record 38 heat related deaths. The average national cost of going to the emergency room is $747.67, costing Marylanders $1,216,459.09.
The extreme heat can cause our highways to buckle, like they did on I-97 just outside of Anne Arundel County, and likely cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Last year, the devastating flash floods in Alleghany and Garrett Counties caused an estimated $33.7 million and President Trump refused to provide financial assistance vis-a-vis FEMA.
The extreme ice storm that covered much of the East Coast in January is estimated to have cost our economy and our communities $105 billion dollars.
This is climate change, caused by big polluters, and climate change has a price. Now it’s time to make polluters pay!
This fall, we’re spreading the word about the impacts and costs of extreme weather events on our communities by hosting a series of events in a statewide “Make Polluters Pay” tour. They’ll be fun, creative, community building, and educational, and when we’re done, it will be undeniable why our communities so desperately need to better protect ourselves from extreme weather, and why Big Polluters should be the ones to pay.
Building Momentum Before a Monumental State Study
The full costs of extreme weather is hard to measure. Thankfully, the Maryland Comptroller’s office is conducting a major study to quantify the billions of dollars in harms to the state caused by global warming in recent decades—and to examine the role of fossil fuel companies that have done business in Maryland, and how much they should pay.
Our fall tour will help build public awareness ahead of that study. Marylanders are already paying for the impacts of the climate crisis through damaged roads and homes, higher insurance costs, medical bills, and taxpayer-funded repairs. We want communities across the state to understand these costs, identify the investments they need to better protect themselves against extreme weather, and urge companies most responsible to foot the bill. That’s what Make Polluters Pay is about. Join us!
Have any questions? Please contact our Director of Campaigns & Strategies, Mustafa Abdullah, at mustafa@chesapeakeclimate.org.
