environmental politics

Hogan releases new video on Chesapeake Bay

A protest to stop Baltimore from privatizing its water system — which the city isn't actually contemplating — was misplaced, but concern about the future of the water system was not.

Now is the time to contact Gov. Martin O'Malley to remind him how important it is to ramp up work by our utilities and state agencies to deliver energy efficiency, which reduces the need to generate electricity with fuels that create the carbon pollution that harms our health and planet. Our state must invest more money, and do so more effectively, especially in our housing stock. Not only will that protect our cherished Chesapeake Bay by reducing pollution, it will benefit households struggling

Federal regulators approved new pollution limits Monday for Maryland's coastal bays aimed at restoring water quality in the shallow lagoons that serve both as playground for Ocean City vacationers and vital habitat for fish and wildlife.

Nixon's biggest mistake was thinking he could get away with what other politicians had done, but forgetting that the rules are different for Republicans

As bills go out with the first fees for customers who don't want smart meters, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. is pressing to apply the charges to a much larger group — people the utility says have ignored repeated requests to switch out their old indoor meter.

Lakes infested by harmful algae closed to swimming; Baltimore's reservoirs safe - for now - but all are threatened by same nutrient pollution fouling the Chesapeake

Maryland Health Secretary Joshua M. Sharfstein will step down in January when Gov. Martin O'Malley leaves office to become an associate dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

James D. Clise, of Westminster, president of Sanitary/Environmental Engineering, was recently honored by University of Pittsburgh as distinguished alumni.

A condominium complex on the Inner Harbor is working to become an iconic part of the Baltimore skyline.

Pavement may be smothering the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but with help from scientists and environmental groups, some government agencies in Maryland are trying to change that toxic relationship.

Saving the bay before it's too late

Environmental groups have gone to court in an attempt to force state regulators to strengthen orders given to Baltimore city and three of Maryland's largest counties to curtail their storm-water pollution. Meanwhile, in a recently disclosed assessment, the Environmental Protection Agency also found shortcomings in Maryland's storm-water control efforts, both in new development projects and in established communities.

Instead of the federal CO2 level, Maryland must focus on the state level to eliminate the toxic pollutants nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. This can only be achieved by retiring the Charles P. Crane and Herbert A. Wagner coal power plants that produce them.

Maryland's Atlantic Ocean beaches earned high marks for water quality in a recent report but polluted runoff remains a serious threat to human health

Growing your own herbs and veggies can add health and variety to your cooking, but make sure your soil is free of contaminants.

Before going for a dip in the bay or hopping on water skis, there's a way to know how much poop is in the water, at least in Anne Arundel County.

Corrective actions have been taken and a $40,000 fine has been paid by Carroll County government after it failed to comply with the federal water pollution and quality standards.

Carroll County has agreed to pay a $40,000 penalty after a federally led inspection found the county had failed to properly protect its streams and water ways from polluted stormwater runoff.

While Maryland and most other Chesapeake Bay states are making decent progress in reducing pollution fouling the estuary, Pennsylvania is "substantially off track" and will receive additional federal help and backup action if necessary, the Environmental Protection Agency reported.

Many supposedly bee-friendly flowers and home garden plants being sold by major retailers have been pretreated with pesticides implicated in bee declines, according to a study by Friends of the Earth and other organizations, including the Maryland Pesticide Network.

New bipartisan report finds risk of climate change is a major threat to U.S. employers and future economic growth

The real lesson of the IRS scandal is the rise of the self-interested bureaucratic class, Jonah Goldberg writes.

Maryland's senior senator is key figure in supporting EPA's clean water regulations

Before going for a dip in the bay or hopping on water skis, there's a way to know how much poop is in the water, at least in Anne Arundel County.

WASHINGTON -- Environmental advocates say a spending bill set for review in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday could reopen a fight over whether the Environmental Protection Agency may regulate pollution entering small headwater streams that feed into larger bodies of water, including the Chesapeake Bay.

State and federal officials joined a Chesapeake Bay nonprofit Thursday in announcing the award of more than $3.7 million to 34 organizations to reduce storm-water pollution in Maryland and three neighboring states and the District of Columbia.

Efforts to clean up power plant emissions could make life better for all

Government officials involved in the multistate Chesapeake Bay cleanup pledged Monday to broaden and accelerate the long-running effort, including a vow to address the impacts of climate change on the ailing estuary.

Capping carbon emissions

Despite early progress reducing Chesapeake Bay pollution, levels of a key pollutant, phosphorus, have not come down in many rivers in the past decade — and are actually worsening in several, officials say.

There are many other benefits to Marylanders from reducing our dependence on coal-fired power plants that we need to fully understand so that we can enthusiastically support new measures to reduce carbon emissions and speed up their adoption.

Maryland stands to benefit from EPA rules to reduce carbon emissions from power plants

Although hookah lounges are becoming more popular, smoking flavored tobacco through water pipes creates hazardous concentrations of indoor air pollution, according to a new study from the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Reductions in power plant emissions represent important foreign policy initiative

Nearly 20 years afterward, the Kennedy Krieger Institute continues to defend itself against lawsuits alleging that a study it sponsored seeking less costly methods of remediating lead paint in homes poisoned some of the children whose families were recruited to participate in the research.

New EPA rules a reminder that climate change affects us all

New EPA standards are vital to the bay's future health

Most of us are not experts on climate science, but unlike the GOP, most of us have the good sense to listen to those who are.

To investigate the possibly of future water rate increases, Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. 'Jack' Young on Monday will request a hearing to discuss a request by the Department of Public Works to borrow up to $2 billion.

Obama administration unveils a climate change plan already demonstrated to work by Maryland and other states with cap-and-trade