From energy to flooding , Maryland confronts climate change realities

wypr.org · Feb 20, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Published February 20, 2026 at 12:00 PM EST Michael Dwyer / APMaryland's ambitious goals to reduce its carbon emissions and rely more on clean, renewable energy sources have included plans for an array of off-shore wind turbines near Ocean City, Maryland, that would dwarf even these massive Deepwater Wind turbines off Block Island, R.I. But those plans are being stymied by the Trump Administration, which has been openly hostile to wind and solar energy development. Today, NPR Climate Desk correspondent Rebecca Hersher joins us as Midday's guest host to dig into some climate-related stories happening right here in Maryland.In 2022, Maryland set some of the country’s most ambitious goals for cutting CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, the leading drivers of global climate change.But that was before a federal administration came to power that is hostile to two pillars of the green energy revolution: solar and wind.Four years after those emission reduction goals were set, Rebecca checks on Maryland's progress as she's joined in studio by The Baltimore Banner’s climate and environment reporter Adam Willis.Then...the latest on the state’s first offshore wind farm. Is the 2-gigawatt clean energy project dead in the water? Rebecca talks via Zoom with Aman Azhar, environmental justice reporter at Inside Climate News.Plus, increasingly intense rainstorms mean increasingly intense flooding...and Baltimore is not immune. The Baltimore Office of Sustainability wants to make the city more resilient. But is there enough urgency? Rebecca welcomes Office of Sustainability Director Ava Richardson to the studio, and Professor Benjamin Zaitchik, a climate scientist and chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, joins the conversation on Zoom. Rebecca Hersher (she/her) is a reporter on NPR's Climate Desk, where she reports on climate science, weather disasters, infrastructure and how humans are adapting to a hotter world. Sam Bermas-Dawes is a producer for Midday. Rob is Midday's interim senior producer.