Baltimore MD climate change and environment news- The Baltimore Banner
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Climate & environment

Flooding near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore as tropical storm Debby makes its way through Baltimore on Friday, August 9.
What to know about the 2025 hurricane season — including potential storm names
Experts are predicting 2025 could see an above-average number of hurricanes and other named storms.
Ben Carson and his wife, Lacena, entered into a contract in 2023 to turn their $2.4 million home in UpperCo into a 33-acre solar farm. Homeowners in the surrounding community have protested.
Ben Carson takes heat for proposed Baltimore County solar farm
Dr. Ben Carson, who served as Donald Trump‘s housing secretary, is trying to turn 33 acres that he and his wife own into a solar farm.
A former plant manager at Curtis Bay Energy was found not guilty of violating environmental laws.
State case against manager of Baltimore medical waste incinerator falls short
Curtis Bay Energy and one top official pleaded guilty in 2023, but a judge cleared the former plant manager on all counts.
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works distributes water in 2022 after E. coli bacteria was found in local drinking water. Baltimore is one of the cities awarded an environmental justice grant that the EPA plans to terminate. Among the grant's aims: water quality testing.
EPA funding cuts target disadvantaged communities, analysis shows
In its bid to resist a court order to unfreeze grants, the Trump administration reveals a laser focus on eliminating environmental justice aid.
National Lutheran Communities & Services plans to build it's new retirement community in an Annapolis forest.
After 15 years, the saga of Crystal Spring is ending in Annapolis. Was the fight worth it?
As the story of Crystal Spring and The Village at Providence Point nears its end, there is a lesson from the last remaining forest in Annapolis.
STONE RIDGE, VIRGINIA - JULY 17:  In an aerial view, an Amazon Web Services data center is shown situated near single-family homes on July 17, 2024 in Stone Ridge, Virginia. Northern Virginia is the largest data center market in the world, according to a report this year cited in published accounts, but is facing headwinds from availability of land and electric power.
Marylanders could pay $800M to power Virginia data centers
Electric utility customers could soon be on the hook for $800 million in transmission upgrades to power Northern Virginia data centers.
Sunken boats are seen at Essex Yacht Harbor Marina near Cox Point.
Where old boats go to die: Essex marina once home to 110 derelict vessels
An Essex marina has become a dumping ground for dozens of derelict boats. Baltimore County has begun imposing fines in an effort to get the property owner to clean up the site.
A hawk lands on a transmission tower near Brandon and Marie Hill’s farmland in Parkton, MD on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.
Renewable energy company ordered to issue $6.5 million in refunds to 32,000 Marylanders
The Maryland Public Service Commission concluded that SmartEnergy misled customers and violated the law.
Synagro’s Back River facility can heat-dry 20,000 dry tons of biosolids annually. The pelletized fertilizer product is sold as a fertilizer or soil conditioner.
Can Baltimore escape its toxic attachment to sludge?
Synagro, a Baltimore County-based company that contracts with wastewater treatment plants, comes under fire for high levels of toxic forever chemicals.
A screenshot from the Chesapeake Conservancy's peregrine falcon webcam, which is watching a nest on a skyscraper in Baltimore.
Falcons on the 33rd floor: Webcams let you get up close with nature around Maryland
Chesapeake Conservancy, along with explore.org, launched the webcam in 2015.
Martin State Airport is seen with a coating of snow after a winter storm.
Groups drop suit over pollution worries at redevelopment of WWII bomber plant in Middle River
A dispute over pollution concerns from construction work at the site of a World War II-era manufacturing plant in Eastern Baltimore County has fizzled quickly.
Air quality reached dangerous levels in Baltimore on June 7, as smoke from Canadian wildfires continued to fill the sky.
New Jersey wildfire smoke is lowering the Baltimore region’s air quality
The Maryland Department of Emergency Management warned of “moderate” air quality issues and areas of “light” visible smoke from a wildfire in New Jersey.
The Baltimore Ravens, The Stephen and Renee Bisciotti Foundation and Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore unveiled a new Ravens-themed look for Mr. Trash Wheel.
Mr. Trash Wheel joins the Ravens flock, gets ‘bodacious’ California cousin
The Waterfront Partnership wasn't involved in the Newport Beach trash wheel, but said they’re very excited to see it.
The Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse is the only screw-pile lighthouse in the bay which stands at its original site.
A decoy coyote’s grand adventure is helping raise funds for an iconic Annapolis lighthouse
Since the children's book “Drew’s Grand Adventure” was published in December, it has amassed more than $2,000 in sales, which will go toward upkeep of the historic Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse.
The high temperature this weekend won't be record-breaking, but it will be the highest Baltimore has seen for the year, according to the National Weather Service.
Baltimore will get a taste of summer weather this weekend
The Baltimore region will start to get a taste of summer this weekend with the warmest day yet on Saturday.
The Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant occupies a 466-acre site on the Back River in Dundalk.
A new Mr. Trash Wheel? How Baltimore’s wastewater woes led to $1.7M in green projects
A new trash wheel is one of nearly two dozen projects set to receive money through a $1.7 million settlement fund, which Baltimore officials agreed to finance as part of a consent decree with the Maryland Department of the Environment over pollution violations at its wastewater plants.
An existing set of transmission lines cuts through the landscape near the start of the proposed route of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) in northern Baltimore County.
More transmission line conflicts expected as US electricity demand booms
A fight in Maryland may be a prelude to what lies ahead as artificial intelligence drives demand for more power — and more power lines.
Public and political pressure on BGE ramped up as the cold winter and previously approved rate hikes combined to create eye-popping bills.
What BGE customers need to know about Maryland’s utility legislation
The Maryland General Assembly tried to tackle complaints about escalating gas and electric bills.
The WIN Waste Baltimore trash incinerator is seen along Interstate 95 in Baltimore. The state legislature voted Monday to end clean-energy subsidies for incinerators.
Maryland lawmakers approve end of clean-energy subsidies for trash incinerators
The proposal, which received final approval Monday from the Senate as part of a sweeping energy bill, comes as Maryland looks to slash energy-sector emissions to curb climate change.
In an aerial view, the flooded Buffalo Trace Distillery is seen on Monday, April 7, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky.
National Weather Service no longer translating products for non-English speakers
The weather service has “paused” the translations because its contract with Lilt, an artificial intelligence company, has lapsed, NWS spokesman Michael Musher said.
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