Adam Willis
@adampwillis.bsky.social
environment & climate reporter for The Baltimore Banner | formerly western North Dakota | onetime 3rd place finisher in Wilmington marathon | adam.willis@thebaltimorebanner.com
Trump administration admits cancellation of Maryland energy grants was political
Trump administration admits it axed energy grants because Maryland voted against him
Department of Energy attorneys admitted in recent court filings that it cancelled grants, including over $80 million for Maryland projects, based on how states voted in the 2024 presidential election.
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New: Federal energy regulators approved the sale of an old Potomac River coal plant today to Maryland-based TeraWulf, which hopes to reboot the site with natural gas and use it to power a data center complex: www.thebanner.com/economy/grow...
Feds approve sale of Potomac River power plant to data center developer
Approval of TeraWulf’s purchase of the Morgantown Generating Station marks an early step in the Easton-based company’s plan to overhaul the contaminated coal site and use it to power a data center com...
thebanner.com
New: Federal energy regulators approved the sale of an old Potomac River coal plant today to Maryland-based TeraWulf, which hopes to reboot the site with natural gas and use it to power a data center complex: www.thebanner.com/economy/grow...
Feds approve sale of Potomac River power plant to data center developer
Approval of TeraWulf’s purchase of the Morgantown Generating Station marks an early step in the Easton-based company’s plan to overhaul the contaminated coal site and use it to power a data center com...
thebanner.com
Dystopian-feeling in downtown Baltimore this week. Wildfire smoke from Ontario is thick. Meanwhile, the harbor's pistachio tides are back, earlier than usual and seemingly getting worse: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Why is Baltimore’s pistachio tide starting earlier and getting worse?
The phenomenon, known locally as a “pistachio tide,” has taken over Baltimore’s central waterway this week. It seems to be happening earlier and experts say it’s getting worse.
thebanner.com
This Baltimore sewage building is beautiful. Now it’s getting a $63M upgrade.
Baltimore’s most beautiful (sewage) building gets a $63M upgrade
The historic Eastern Avenue Pumping Station has kept Baltimore's wastewater moving since 1912. Now the city is investing $63 million to modernize it.
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Maryland digs deep to reclaim islands swallowed by Chesapeake Bay
How the Port of Baltimore is bringing lost islands back to the Chesapeake Bay
A decades-old operation to recycle dredge spoils from the Port of Baltimore is entering a new chapter
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In 2005, Gov. Robert Ehrlich unveiled a "grand experiment" to revive one small Eastern Shore river. He hoped to chart a blueprint for restoring the Chesapeake Bay. But two decades later, the Corsica River remains sick, and progress has slowed to a crawl: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
If Maryland can’t save a river that ‘went to hell,’ can it save the bay?
Disappointment in the progress of the Corsica raises a bigger, more troubling question. If, in two decades, officials can’t revive one relatively small tributary, can they really save the bay?
thebanner.com
Last fall, an energy mogul begged Wes Moore to back his data center complex. It worked. Records offer a rare window into how a wealthy & politically connected businessman won the governor’s endorsement for his controversial foray into Maryland data centers: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
A data center developer wanted a power plant. He needed Moore’s help.
Emails obtained by The Baltimore Banner offer a new window into Gov. Wes Moore’s approach to an emerging data center industry. His decision to back a controversial development in southern Maryland rai...
thebanner.com
An energy mogul begged Moore to back his data center complex. It worked.
A data center developer wanted a power plant. He needed Moore’s help.
Emails obtained by The Baltimore Banner offer a new window into Gov. Wes Moore’s approach to an emerging data center industry. His decision to back a controversial development in southern Maryland raises...
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Is Baltimore’s public works department too big? A ballot measure would split it.
Is Baltimore’s public works department too big? A ballot measure would split it.
The proposal, backed by Mayor Brandon Scott, City Council President Zeke Cohen and Comptroller Bill Henry, comes after bondholders downgraded Baltimore’s debt rating on its sewer system this year.
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Could Baltimore unearth the Jones Falls? An art project imagines it in 2076.
Could Baltimore unearth the Jones Falls? An art project imagines it in 2076.
Curators behind a new exhibition ask Baltimore to picture the Jones Falls in 50 years. Does it have a highway on top? How about gondolas?
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5 years after fish kill, old vinegar plant is no longer polluting Jones Falls
Court agrees that Baltimore’s old vinegar plant is no longer polluting Jones Falls
Fleischmann’s Vinegar, owned by the Ireland-based food conglomerate Kerry Group, entered into the court-monitored cleanup plan with Blue Water Baltimore in April 2024 and agreed to a $1.3 million settlement.
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The Key Bridge took her daughter’s father. Now, ICE is moving to deport her.
The Key Bridge took her daughter’s father. Now, ICE is moving to deport her.
Zoila Guerra Sandoval, a native of Guatemala who has lived in Maryland for nearly two decades, is the former partner of José Mynor López, one of the workers repairing the Key Bridge overnight when the...
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Maryland Democrats turned Exelon into a punching bag. The real fight is just starting.
Is Exelon a political punching bag, or the most powerful company in Annapolis?
Exelon, whose subsidiaries include Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Potomac Electric Power Co., became a punching bag — in one case literally — for Democrats looking to establish populist bona fides...
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Companies that rained lead paint from TV tower in North Baltimore agree to $2M settlement, @adampwillis.bsky.social reports. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)
Companies to pay $2M after raining lead on North Baltimore community from TV tower
Lead paint rained down on a half-mile radius in North Baltimore during 2022 work on a TV tower, covering homes, a day care and a playground.
thebanner.com
Maryland Democrats can’t agree on how to save you $150 a year on energy bills
Maryland Democrats can’t agree on how to save you $150 a year on energy bills
Ratepayer advocates argue that recent changes undercut Democrats’ promises to cut energy bills in Maryland.
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Maryland Supreme Court throws out Baltimore’s lawsuit against oil companies www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Maryland high court dismisses local lawsuits against Big Oil
The Maryland Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed lawsuits brought by Baltimore, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County against more than two dozen oil and gas giants.
thebanner.com
How a screaming stranger got a developer to dream big about the Jones Falls
How a screaming stranger got a developer to dream big about the Jones Falls
A Baltimore developer was at the center of a charged conflict over the future of a dump in the Remington neighborhood, a controversy that has gotten him thinking bigger about the future of the beloved...
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After a developer's bid for a Remington dump backfired, he's thinking bigger. Seawall reached a deal this month that looks to some like a step toward a long-held Baltimore dream: to turn the banks of the beleaguered Jones Falls into a park. w @emilyopilo.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
How a screaming stranger got a developer to dream big about the Jones Falls
A Baltimore developer was at the center of a charged conflict over the future of a dump in the Remington neighborhood, a controversy that has gotten him thinking bigger about the future of the beloved...
thebanner.com
Data center developer wants to reboot a Potomac River power plant with natural gas
Data center developer wants to reboot a Potomac River power plant with natural gas
A prominent Eastern Shore developer has reached a deal to take over a retired coal-fired power plant on the Potomac River --Morgantown Generating Station -- and reboot it to run data centers. Does Gov....
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It was supposed to be a bumper year for oysters. Maryland watermen want disaster aid instead.
It was supposed to be a bumper year for oysters. Maryland watermen want disaster aid instead.
Nearing the end of Maryland's worst oyster harvests in years, Gov. Wes Moore appealed to President Donald Trump for disaster aid. But whether the Chesapeake Bay's oystermen will get help from the federal...
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It was supposed to be a good year for Maryland's oyster harvest. A "perfect storm" of disasters in recent months now have watermen asking for federal aid, reports @adampwillis.bsky.social . www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
It was supposed to be a bumper year for oysters. Maryland watermen want disaster aid instead.
Nearing the end of Maryland's worst oyster harvests in years, Gov. Wes Moore appealed to President Donald Trump for disaster aid. But whether the Chesapeake Bay's oystermen will get help from the fede...
thebanner.com
This by Karl Blankenship is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the challenge to cleaner water in the Chesapeake Bay: www.bayjournal.com/ag-and-the-b...
A better Chesapeake Bay demands a realistic look at farm pollution
The Chesapeake Bay region achieved just 16% of its farm runoff objective, according to Chesapeake Bay Program estimates, even though state and federal agencies ramped up funding to help farmers
bayjournal.com
Strange situation out of Anne Arundel County: Officials say sewage capacity on a system flowing into a Baltimore treatment pant is at its limit, prompting a moratorium on development for an area in the middle of the I-95 corridor. Fix could take 5 years: www.thebanner.com/economy/grow...
Citing lack of sewage capacity, Anne Arundel suspends development in part of county
A Anne Arundel Public Works spokesperson said officials learned last month from Baltimore City that they could not purchase additional capacity in the sewage system, prompting the suspension that the ...
thebanner.com
In a move that's surprised multiple people we've talked with today, Anne Arundel County has put a moratorium on development in a chunk of the county because of sewage capacity. Read more in @thebaltimorebanner.com w/ @adampwillis.bsky.social —
Citing lack of sewage capacity, Anne Arundel suspends development in part of county
A Anne Arundel Public Works spokesperson said officials learned last month from Baltimore City that they could not purchase additional capacity in the sewage system, prompting the suspension that the ...
thebanner.com
Weeks after ~250 million gallons of raw sewage emptied into the Potomac, a bitter fight between Trump & Gov. Wes Moore has raised a bigger question: When America’s outdated water infrastructure fails, who bears the blame? My dispatch on the Potomac River disaster: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
After a historic Potomac sewage spill, who is to blame?
A month after over 200 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River, the ecological disaster in the capital region inflamed tensions between President Donald Trump and Maryland Gov. We...
thebanner.com
How a catastrophic sewage spill in the Potomac inflamed Trump v. Moore
After a historic Potomac sewage spill, who is to blame?
A month after over 200 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River, the ecological disaster in the capital region inflamed tensions between President Donald Trump and Maryland Gov. Wes...
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YMCA employees wanted pay raises. They got a food pantry instead.
YMCA employees wanted pay raises. They got a food pantry instead.
The YMCA of Central Maryland opened a food pantry for workers asking for pay raises. Meanwhile, its CEO is one of the region’s highest-paid nonprofit leaders.
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Baltimore’s overrun by deer. The city plans to kill them.
Deer are out of control in Baltimore. The city plans to shoot them.
Deer in Baltimore are out of control. Starting this spring, the city plans to deploy sharpshooters in three parks to begin culling the population.
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