Outlet Says Maryland Climate Executive Order Highlights Debate Over Baltimore’s Bresco Waste-to-Energy Incinerator

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s climate agenda is again drawing attention after a report cited an executive order dated June 4, 2024, described as implementing Maryland’s Climate Pollution Reduction Plan. The report focuses on the Bresco waste-to-energy incinerator in Baltimore and argues there is a tension between climate-policy goals and the emissions profile of a major facility that burns municipal trash.

The report, published July 3, 2026, says the executive order is labeled 01.01.2024.19 and describes climate change as an existential threat to Maryland’s economy, natural resources, and public health. It further says Maryland’s Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 set state targets including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60% by 2031 and obtaining net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

On the incinerator itself, the report says Bresco burns up to 2,250 tons of Baltimore’s municipal trash every day and describes it as one of the largest incinerators nationwide, also characterizing it as the largest single air-emissions source in the city. It also asserts that Bresco accounts for 36% of Baltimore’s total air emissions, and that the plant’s one smokestack emits more nitrogen oxides into Baltimore’s air than other local sources the report discusses.

The report’s central question is whether the state’s climate planning meaningfully accounts for the emissions from large waste-to-energy infrastructure, particularly when viewed alongside the state’s emissions-reduction targets. It frames the issue through the lens of public expectations about how climate goals align with day-to-day environmental impacts from major industrial operations in an urban area.

A key limitation is verification: the supplied materials do not include an official text of Maryland Executive Order 01.01.2024.19 or a primary state record that confirms the report’s characterization and specific numerical claims about Bresco’s emissions. Under editorial process requirements for executive-action coverage, confirmation from an official Maryland posting or the executive order text is needed before the timing and contents can be treated as fully established facts.

For next steps, officials and researchers seeking to substantiate the dispute would need the full text of Moore’s June 4, 2024 executive order, along with underlying emissions data, permitting records, and the methodology supporting any figures attributed to Bresco’s share of city emissions.

If additional primary documentation is obtained, the practical policy implications would likely turn on whether Maryland’s Climate Pollution Reduction Plan and associated implementing steps include enforceable measures, emissions accounting, or regulatory timelines that address large solid-waste combustion sources operating in Baltimore and similar facilities across the state.