Green Living - baltimoresun.com

B'More Green: Md. eyes growth pollution 'offsets'

Tim Wheeler — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:25:00 GMT

Policy would favor redevelopment, likely raise costs for rural projects

Maryland officials are drawing up plans to require potentially costly water pollution "offsets" for new development to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

Survey finds local pollution oversight lacking

Tim Wheeler — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:50:00 GMT

Few inspectors to check on storm-water controls; Anne Arundel 'most severe'

If you create ponds and rain gardens to capture polluted runoff, will they work - and keep working?

Mattawoman Creek at a 'turning point'

Tim Wheeler — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:10:00 GMT

Report warns planned Charles County growth could ruin one of Chesapeake's healthiest tributaries

The fate of the Chesapeake Bay may be found in its tributaries. Mattawoman Creek, one of the bay's healthiest, is losing ground to development and now stands "at a turning point" as Charles County plans for future growth in its watershed, a state-led task force warns.

Inner Harbor smell demonstrates bay woes to holiday visitors

By Yvonne Wenger , The Baltimore Sun — Sat, 26 May 2012 22:17:00 GMT

Memorial Day business is still strong, despite fish kill, smell

A powerful stench was in the air Saturday at the Inner Harbor as 12-year-olds Alison Chase and Marissa Westerbeke hunched over the water's edge, studying tiny crabs floating to the surface.

Bay group warns of swimming after storms

By Meredith Cohn — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:35:00 GMT

Swimmers should avoid contact with tidal and fresh water for 48 hours after a big rain storm this summer, warns the Chesapeake Bay Foundation .

Obama urges Congress to extend clean-energy tax credits

By Christi Parsons and Kathleen Hennessey, Los Angeles Times — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

The president says continuing the production tax credit and an investment tax credit would save 37,000 jobs that otherwise would be at risk.

NEWTON, Iowa — From a wind-power factory in this battleground state, President Obama urged Congress to extend tax credits he said would save jobs in the field of clean-energy production.

Fish kills grow in algae-tainted waters

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:59:00 GMT

Death toll on Arundel creeks raised tenfold; more seen in Dundalk waters

Something's rotten on the Baltimore area waterfront. Fish are washing ashore by the thousands in a mass die-off that officials say appears to be caused by a weather-driven worsening of the pollution that chronically plagues the Chesapeake Bay.

Top 10 new species of 2011 named by conservation group

By Thomas H. Maugh II — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Top 10 lists are standard fodder for media: the 10 best dressed, the 10 best-looking, the 10 most wanted, etc. But the International Institute for Species Exploration, headquartered at Arizona State University, has a new take on such lists. For the last five years, the institute has been issuing a top 10 list of the quirkiest, most bizarre and just plain interesting new species discovered the previous year. This year's list was released Wednesday, on the 305th birthday of Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, who created the modern system of plant and animal names and classifications.

6,000 fish killed in Arundel creeks

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Tue, 22 May 2012 23:09:31 GMT

Investigators suspect low oxygen from algae bloom

State officials are investigating what killed thousands of fish in Marley and Furnace creeks in northern Anne Arundel County, but suspect they suffocated after an algae bloom sucked the oxygen out of the water, a Maryland Department of the Environment spokesman said Tuesday.

Trees linked to less crime, research finds

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:40:00 GMT

Leafy blocks in city, county had fewer break-ins, shootings

Who doesn't love a tree? Apparently, criminals. Researchers have found that leafier places in Baltimore tend to have lower crime rates than those with few or no trees.

CDC lowers lead poisoning threshold

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:19:00 GMT

A sixfold increase in Maryland children potentially at risk

The number of young children deemed at risk of lead poisoning in Maryland and nationwide expanded drastically Wednesday as a federal health agency declared it would effectively cut in half its threshold for diagnosing the environmental illness.

Domino sugar plant settles pollution lawsuit

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:38:00 GMT

Domino agrees to pay $200,000 penalty, install emission controls

The owner of the Domino sugar refinery in the Inner Harbor has agreed to pay a $200,000 civil penalty and install pollution controls to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the plant of violating the Clean Air Act.

Mid-Atlantic wind transmission line clears hurdle

By Associated Press — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:35:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge power transmission line for wind farms planned off the East Coast has cleared a regulatory hurdle, although construction is still years away.

Back River gives up trash for art

By Mary Gail Hare , The Baltimore Sun — Sun, 13 May 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Students turn debris into artful work

A tot's discarded rocking horse has taken on an artful life and become a compelling symbol of a river befouled by debris.

Turning food scraps into compost

By Jamie Smith Hopkins , The Baltimore Sun — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

The Interview: Keith Losoya of Waste Neutral

Keith Losoya thinks a terrible thing to waste is waste itself.

Hot weather could offset winter energy savings

By Scott Dance — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:26:00 GMT

The mild winter meant a dearth of heating degree days. Early in the cooling degree days season, the warm trend is having the opposite result.

Emails show close ties between O'Malley, Perdue lawyer

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:48:00 GMT

Environmental group alleges governor panders to poultry industry; spokeswomen defend exchanges

A series of emails between Gov. Martin O'Malley and Perdue's corporate lawyer shows what an environmental group calls a "cozy relationship" between the two law school classmates as Maryland's chief executive weighs farm pollution regulations of concern to the Salisbury-based poultry producer.

Contaminated reusable grocery bag causes gastric illness outbreak

By Thomas H. Maugh II / For the Booster Shots blog — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:35:00 GMT

A reusable grocery bag left in a hotel bathroom caused an outbreak of norovirus-induced diarrhea and nausea that struck nine of 13 members of a girls' soccer team in October, Oregon researchers reported Wednesday. The outbreak also affected many family members after the team returned home.

Makers of flame retardants manipulate research findings

By Sam Roe and Patricia Callahan , Chicago Tribune reporters — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Makers of flame retardants manipulate research findings to back their products, downplay health risks

Twenty-five years ago, scientists gathered in a cramped government laboratory and set fire to specially designed chairs, TVs and electrical cables packed with flame retardants. For the next half-hour, they carefully measured how much the chemicals slowed the blaze.

Residents criticize natural gas pipeline proposal

By Arthur Hirsch , The Baltimore Sun — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:01:00 GMT

More than 100 show up at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hearing

Harold Burns, president of the Falls Road Community Association, stepped to the microphone at the Oregon Ridge Lodge Tuesday night and threw down the gauntlet before representatives of a gas company proposing an underground pipeline through his part of Baltimore County.

Fear fans flames for chemical makers

By Patricia Callahan and Sam Roe , Chicago Tribune reporters — Sun, 06 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Manufacturers of fire retardants rely on questionable testimony, front groups to push standards that boost demand for their toxic — and ineffective — products

Dr. David Heimbach knows how to tell a story.

Grand Prix trees finally getting planted in city

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:18:00 GMT

Months late, and taxpayers are footing the bill

It's said good things come to those who wait. But somebody still has to pay for them.

Study: Pollution trading could trim bay cleanup costs

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:45:00 GMT

Billions of dollars in potential savings seen; critics warn of 'Pandora's box'

Steep projected costs for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay could be trimmed by billions of dollars, a new study suggests, by allowing polluters to buy "credits" for less-expensive reductions made by others.

O'Malley signs environment, social media bills

By Michael Dresser , The Baltimore Sun — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:27:00 GMT

Legislation was approved during 90-day Assembly session

Gov. Martin O'Malley signed more than 300 bills into law Wednesday, including measures hailed by environmentalists as providing new protections for the Chesapeake Bay.

Reward offered in death of two bald eagles in Talbot County

By Candus Thomson , The Baltimore Sun — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:50:00 GMT

Federal wildlife officials are offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person who killed a pair of bald eagles in Talbot County last Monday.