Annapolis is nearly 5,000 miles from the embattled Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. But environmentalists say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine bolsters the case for climate legislation in Maryland, aimed at transitioning the state off of fossil fuels.

“War in Europe is turning already-volatile natural gas prices into a roller coaster ride,” said Mike Tidwell, with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Tidwell and others from a coalition of environmental groups spoke at a press conference Monday in support of the Climate Solutions Now Act (Senate Bill 528) and the Comprehensive Climate Solutions Act (House Bill 708) — bills that would mandate steep greenhouse gas emissions cuts and the phasing out of natural gas in buildings, among other things.

“Electrifying more homes and moving away from gas, as this bill will do, addresses both pocketbook issues for low-income families, and newly emerging geopolitical threats to our national economy from the Ukraine war,” Tidwell said.

The invasion of Ukraine has caused natural gas prices to spike in Europe, which gets as much as 40% of its natural gas from Russia. Germany has halted the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project which would bring more gas from Russia. “More demand for the same amount of gas will cause prices to rise even further,” says Tidwell.

Other environmentalists have also made the case that transitioning quickly to renewable energy would liberate the world from the whims of fossil-fuel-rich nations. Climate activist Bill McKibben penned an opinion piece arguing that switching to solar and wind energy “dramatically reduces the power of autocrats, dictators, and thugs.” Climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck wrote that “The world is being blackmailed, thanks to an over-reliance on fossil fuels.”

“Now imagine a world where all countries have access to affordable energy generated within their own borders, where petro-states no longer have the power to blackmail other countries or impact the international price of energy,” Overpeck wrote, describing not a fantasy world, but one powered by renewable energy.

The bills in Maryland would be among the most ambitious climate legislation in the nation. The Climate Solutions Now Act would require a 60% cut in statewide carbon emissions by 2030 (up from 40% under current law) and net-zero emissions by 2045. The legislation would also ban natural gas — and all other fossil fuels — for heating and hot water in new construction. Starting in 2023, all new buildings would have to use electric furnaces and water heaters, which can be far more energy-efficient and can operate on renewable electricity.

The legislation would require emissions reductions from new and existing buildings, and would include provisions to spur the transition to electric vehicles.

At a senate hearing earlier this month, energy and building industry representatives testified against the legislation, saying it makes changes too quickly and would burden residents with higher costs.

“Maryland is in a housing affordability crisis, I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about that,” said Lori Graf, CEO of the Maryland Building Industry Association, speaking to lawmakers at the hearing. Graf said all-electric appliances in new construction could cost thousands of dollars more per building.

“That just ends up driving up the price of housing,” Graf said.

But efficient electric appliances are getting cheaper, and environmentalists dispute the industry’s claim that all-electric buildings cost more. Ben Roush, with the sustainable engineering firm FSi, spoke at the press conference, and said

“We have done many, many projects where we do side by side comparisons,” Roush said. The cost savings of not putting gas service in a new building, he says, more than covers the cost difference between gas and electric equipment.

“For new buildings, it can actually be cost negative — you can save money to build all electric buildings.”

The urgency of transitioning off fossil fuels was underscored by a major United Nations report released Monday, that shows the impacts of climate change are already hitting billions of people across the globe, and that says deep emissions cuts are needed over the next decade, in order to avoid catastrophic global warming.