Days before Maryland lawmakers are expected to override Gov. Wes Moore’s veto of a bill to assess the local damages of climate change, the first-term Democrat earmarked funding for the study.

In a joint statement Friday alongside Comptroller Brooke Lierman, Moore announced that his administration will appropriate $470,000 to assess the damages of climate-driven floods, storms and heat in the state. The administration already raised $30,000 in philanthropic support for the study, which together with the state money covers the full amount included in last session’s vetoed bill.

The reversal comes after Moore drew the ire of some green advocates this year for his decision to veto the climate study and two other energy-focused bills. Advocates have pushed state leaders in recent years to calculate the total costs of climate change in Maryland in hopes that the state could force fossil fuel companies to pay for the consequences of their emissions.

In a statement, Moore touted the appropriation as a contrast to President Donald Trump’s attacks on environmental programs in Washington.

“While the federal government has spent the past year rolling back climate protections and driving up energy costs, Maryland is taking a responsible step toward understanding the true price tag of climate damage,” he said.

In his May veto letter, Moore said the prevalence of studies has created a financial burden for the state, which is staring down a $1.4 billion budget shortfall.

Lawmakers will return Tuesday to Annapolis for a special legislative session at which they plan to vote on whether to override Moore’s vetoes of the three climate bills.

The climate damages study overwhelmingly passed both General Assembly chambers earlier this year. It was not clear Friday how the funding announcement could impact the planned veto override vote.

Known as the RENEW Act, earlier versions of the legislation would have established a so-called “climate superfund” by charging international fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron for the billions of dollars in damage caused by storms, floods, extreme heat and other impacts from global warming in Maryland.

Climate superfund laws passed in Vermont and New York face legal challenges, including from the Trump administration.

In Maryland, lawmakers amended the RENEW Act into a study, opting to decide whether to pursue money from the fossil fuel industry once the state has determined the cost of its damage.

Since Moore vetoed the climate bills, some green groups have voiced discontent with his leadership. Before Thanksgiving, activists with the environmental group Food & Water Watch hand-delivered an oversized card to Moore’s Department of the Environment in which they spelled out ways he’d let them down, including through his RENEW Act veto.

“So many thanks... FOR NOTHING, GOV. MOORE” the card read.

But climate advocates cheered the governor’s decision Friday.

“States have no choice but to begin taking action on their own to respond to the real-world impacts of climate change they are facing,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “By taking this first step Governor Moore is committing Maryland to a more resilient and sustainable path forward.”

The $470,000, allocated in an agreement between the Maryland Energy Administration and the Comptroller’s Office, will come from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, a state fund that draws proceeds from power plant and utility payments for their emissions.

Under the agreement, Lierman’s office is tasked with leading the study, which has an expected completion date of December 1, 2026, according to the governor’s office.

Lierman said in the statement that she’s “grateful to live in a state where our Governor and General Assembly understand the importance of confronting climate risks with clarity, courage, and accountability.”

Two lawmakers who led the RENEW Act legislation, Democrats Sen. Katie Fry Hester of Howard and Montgomery counties and Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo of Montgomery County, also joined in the announcement.

Marylanders have shouldered the costs of climate disasters for too long, Hester said in the governor’s office release.

“This study is a crucial step toward finally understanding the real financial toll that climate change is placing on Marylanders,” he said.