Gov. Wes Moore last month unveiled an executive order that he said would help Maryland reach its goal of “net zero” emissions. By the fall, every state agency will need to create a “climate implementation plan,” a vision the governor called “bold” and “ambitious.”

But at its core, this is just a plan to create yet another plan. We’ve already heard enough talk and too little action from the Moore administration.

From day one, Moore’s position on the climate crisis has been clear. In his inaugural speech, he declared that climate change is “an existential threat for our entire state.” Last September, he said that we “cannot punt on this issue” and reiterated his commitment to reaching 100 percent clean energy by 2035.

In October, he said his administration would not just set bold goals — he promised that “we are going to hit every single one of them.”

What is less clear, though, is whether the governor will actually accomplish anything substantial. When the last legislative session got underway, he disappointed many environmentalists and community groups by failing to articulate any actionable initiatives to achieve the goals of the state’s landmark climate law. By the end of the session, there was little progress.

The governor’s office tells us that the goals in the law — the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 — are the strongest in the nation: a 60 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (from 2006 levels) by 2031, 100 percent clean energy by 2035 and “net zero” emissions by 2045. But those goals mean nothing without action. And Moore is still not backing legislation that requires the state to meet those lofty benchmarks.

While the governor makes clear that he supports 100 percent clean energy, the details are fuzzy. The state’s detailed 2023 climate report envisions a transition away from fossil fuels and calls for trash incineration to be removed as a clean energy source. But Moore did nothing to support a bill this year that would have prevented trash incineration from counting as renewable, and he failed to introduce the far-reaching climate bill that most advocates were expecting.

In the absence of substantive action, we are left to wonder where the governor’s priorities lie. While the administration tells us that Maryland is already making substantial progress in reducing climate pollution, the 2023 report also says the state is not on track to meet its existing renewable energy goals. How, then, are we expected to take seriously the report’s call to establish a new, more aggressive climate standard?

The climate report also says the state will need to rapidly develop “carbon capture” and direct air capture to meet its long-term “net zero” goals — but neither technology has come close to achieving the emissions reductions that the state believes are possible, and both would serve as lifelines to the fossil fuel industry.

This kind of wishful thinking is dangerous and punts on the difficult decisions we must make — something that Moore has always said he would not do.

The Moore administration can — and must — live up to its own rhetoric around climate action. What Maryland needs is a bonafide plan to get to 100 percent clean energy, one that does not include more nuclear reactors or rely on gimmicks like carbon capture or so-called renewable natural gas schemes that run on factory farm waste.

We don’t need to waste months waiting on government agencies to submit new and redundant “action” plans.

We need actual decision-making from Moore to create policies that will achieve the goals he says he believes in.

Jorge Aguilar (jaguilar@fwwatch.org) is the southern region director at the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.