Jay Falstad selected to Moore's Executive Policy Committee for Climate and Environment

Falstad powers his entire farm with roof-top solar panels, plants lavender and other sustainable food sources to attract pollinators and promote responsible farming techniques. Falstad related there are 400 or more different species of bees in MD ranging in size from a fruit fly to the more well-known bumble bee – all these critical to the farming that supports many Maryland families. He continued by saying that according to a USDA soil survey, Maryland has the best soil in the nation, second only to Iowa. Even more reasons he believes it should be preserved.

Falstad is opposed to the Bay Bridge third span. He feels the previous administration has not explored enough options before moving forward with plans for a third Bay span – in any form. According to Falstad, there are other options that need to be studied and evaluated as a part of the bigger picture concerning Bay Bridge traffic. He hopes the new administration will hit pause on the current direction and perform additional studies into options that have not yet been ruled out.

Likewise, Falstad said he sees the now popular practice of planting solar panels as opposed to crops as a short-sighted solution. He believes an incentive program for the Shore’s many poultry farmers that would offset the cost of installing solar on top of the poultry houses could be a much better option.

Falstad said while he agrees we need to build plans to divest ourselves of the dependence on fossil fuels, he does not believe that solar farms are the correct path especially for Queen Anne’s County, the top grain producer in the state.

When installing a solar farm, the process typically strips the land of all its topsoil, rendering it nearly impossible to restore as productive farmland, Falstad noted. Losing this irreplaceable asset to solar panels with a limited lifespan of only 15-20 years is not an equation that has long term benefits for anyone. He believes we all need to be in the climate fight together since we all breathe the same air and drink the same water.

The governor’s Climate/Environment Executive Policy Committee will be chartered with the aim of advising Moore in the areas of climate change and the environment. Additionally, it will help Moore to attack some of his campaign goals — reducing greenhouse emissions, with the goal of net-zero by 2045, as well as an initiative to produce 100 clean energies by 2035 are top priorities on that list.

Partnering with local leaders, with a “no one is left behind” approach is also on that list – something that led Falstad to apply to be an active part of the process. In this new role he hopes to provide thought leadership as it relates to the climate and environment in general, but also for the state of MD and more importantly the Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay.

Each Transition Policy Committee will welcome between 20 – 30 executive members to contribute their expertise to the final plan for their content-area. The transition teams have been hard at work examining the various policies put forth during the campaign and building theories of change, action steps, and metrics that will be used to measure the new administration’s progress towards some of its campaign goals, Falstad noted.

Moore is looking at both the long and short-term policies and actions his administration can take starting on day one. He will be releasing the final reports from this committee to the public at the end of February.